The Things I Do For Love
by N-AngelFire
Summary: sequel to Wait I'm Marrying Who? They're married, they have kids, everything should be easier now right? Unfortunately, Sasuke doesn't realize how difficult having children really is. Good thing he has Sakura and his friends to help him out. SasuSaku
1. Chapter 1

Hi it's me again. When will I just shut up? The world may never know… anywayzers this is a last minute inspiration and will probably suck bad butw ho cares, I'm writing for me and me only! –laughs- Well if you even kinda like the idea leave me a review okay? Thanks in advance.

This story takes place right after the epilogue.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. Instead I have decided to pursue Kyo from Fruits Basket. Here kitty kitty…**

**-**

**-**

"Sasuke can you come here?"

"…"

"Sasuke I need some help in the kitchen."

"…"

"Come on Sasuke! PLEASE?"

Uchiha Sasuke gritted his teeth as he ignored the annoying voice coming out of the kitchen. He was busy, dammit. He had no time to do women's work. He leaned heavily against the table as he began writing out brief details of his encounter with Stone Ninja.

"Sasuke you promised to help!"

"I did not!" he shouted, losing his waning patience.

"You did too!"

"Did not!" Sasuke rose up from the table and stomped into the kitchen where smoke wafted out of. He waved a hand in front of his face to clear the smoke. "Naruto, what the hell did you do to the ramen?"

Through she smoke he saw Uzumaki Naruto standing over the stove wearing his wife's apron and stirring a smoking concoction. The said blonde coughed heavily as the smoke stung his eyes.

"Hina-hime said that this was an easy recipe!" he whined.

Sasuke leaned against the door frame and rolled his eyes. How the blonde burned ramen he would never know. "You're an idiot."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

The sound of crying came from the back room causing Sasuke to swear under his breath. Giving a fierce glare he used his last resort "If you're here cooking, who's taking care of the office?"

"Oh crap!"

The pot of ramen spilled all over the floor as Naruto disappeared from the room. Muttering another 'idiot' under his breath Sasuke headed towards the source of the noise. Inside the cradle lay one year old Uchiha Yasuo. Large brown eyes gazed up into black ones. Sasuke gave a grunt before picking up the child and holding it to him. Almost instantly Yasuo stopped wailing.

"Awww… who knew the great Uchiha was such a softie?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the sound of his secondary rival's voice.

"Shut up Hyuuga."

Neji entered the room followed by a grinning Uchiha Keiko. "Neji-niisan took me to the park!" she cried.

It was Sasuke's turn to smirk. "Who's the softie now?"

The Hyuuga picked up the small girl and swung her onto his shoulders, gaining a laugh. "So? I just happen to enjoy being with your children. I'm glad that none of them took after you."

"Stop being so loud." Hisoka entered the room with an irritated expression on his usually stoic face.

"Then again…"

Sasuke looked down at his son with pride. Seeing little Hisoka made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The boy was the spitting image of his father in every way imaginable. He would make a fine Uchiha.

The door slammed open as Naruto barged in with a triumphant look on his face. "I just remembered! Shino and Shizune are taking care of the office for me!"

"Uncle Naruto!" Keiko squealed.

"Dobe. Now what are we going to eat for dinner?" Sasuke snapped irately.

Naruto's grin faltered "Um… take out?"

Hyuuga and Uchiha both sighed in unison. Couldn't they handle just one day without the women? Thinking the same thing they spoke simultaneously "I hate girls day out."

"Where's Nina?" Keiko asked from on top of Neji's shoulders. She pulled on the anbu's long hair for support earning a yelp from him.

Naruto, grateful for the escape quickly answered, "She's at Shikamaru's playing with Sachiko, Ryoichi, and Takashi."

The girl nodded her head slowly. Her stomach rumbled, "What's for dinner?"

Everyone groaned.

-

-

The shopkeeper clutched her forehead as the four squealing women searched through the merchandise. It was days like these that made him regret ever opening a women's' clothes store. His mother always told him that he'd meet a lady this way… well he met four and wanted to get rid of them.

"Sakura you should wear this! This will totally match your eyes!" Ino squealed as she swung a pale green kimono around. The sleeve of the kimono snagged on a hanger and tore. "Oops. Hey do you have another one?"

Hinata blushed as she took the torn article into her hands "I-I can s-sew this closed…" she said softly.

"Hinata-chan! You're the best!"

Hyuuga Tenten rolled her eyes at the excited blonde as she fingered her way through training outfits. "This one looks nice…" she gazed at a set in consideration. It looked similar to Neji's usual outfit but it was black, shorter, and built for a woman's body.

"Th-that w-would look ni-nice on you…" her sister in law spoke kindly. Tenten gave her a bright smile.

"Yeah I might buy it." She slung the set over her shoulder "Hey, how do you think the guys are doing?"

The rest of her friends paused in thought. Ino broke the silence "Well I know Shikamaru's hands are full with my one child and Tenten's two. I told him that he could've gone to Sakura-chan's house but he said it was too troublesome."

Sakura smiled "I'm sure that Neji-kun, Sasuke, and Naruto-kun are fine." She said as she headed towards the cash register "Still, just to be sure I'm going home a little early."

"THANK YOU GOD!" the cashier threw his hands in the air.

The girls gave him a strange look. "ookaayyy…" Sakura took a step back.

-

-

After picking up Nina, Sakura and Hinata headed towards the Uchiha estate. The small girl skipped ahead of her mother, her short blonde hair blowing freely in the wind. When she was born she was a shock to everyone.

"A blonde Hyuuga…" Neji had mused "Well I'll be."

She whirled around revealing pale eyes equal to her mother's. "Hurry up Okasan! Otousan will be waiting!" she ran as fast as her short legs could take her.

Sakura smiled at the girl. "She's so cute." She sighed. "So, when will her sibling be due?"

Hinata shrugged carefully "Not for another seven months. Naruto is hoping that it will be a boy."

Conversation lulled to a silence as they walked up the steps to the Uchiha mansion. Sakura quickly unlocked the door and swung it open, expecting to be greeted by a peaceful silence…

"NARUTO YOU IDIOT! YOU BURNT THE TAKEOUT!"

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT THE MICROWAVES BUTTONS ARE ALL BLURRY!"

There was a loud crash followed by an explosion.

"YOU DID IT AGAIN!"

"SHUT UP TEME!"

"MAKE ME!"

Sakura sighed and turned to her wide eyed friend "Whose turn is it?"

"Y-yours."

"Right…" she took her coat off and threw it on the couch. Rolling her sleeves up, she cracked her knuckles and stormed into the kitchen. Hinata covered Nina's ears.

There was a lot of crashing followed by "OW SAKURA-CHAN! NOT SO HARD!"

"SAKURA!"

The noise eventually stopped. Hinata slowly removed her ears. Nina blinked her large gray eyes up at her. "Okasan?"

Sakura walked out of the kitchen while rolling her shoulders casually. She smiled cheerfully. Too cheerfully.

Hinata gulped and hurried past her friend. The kitchen looked like a battleground with broken pots, pans, chairs, glassware, and Naruto's limp form sprawled on the floor. Beside him, Uchiha Sasuke propped his weakened self against a counter trying to look casual.

"Hey." He said through gritted teeth.

Hinata raised an eyebrow "Hey. Naruto are you alright?" she knelt down beside her husband.

"Never. Better."

Sakura re-entered causing both men to flinch. She gasped dramatically and covered her mouth "Sasuke! Who did this to you?" she demanded as she activated a healing jutsu.

"You did."

She grinned up at her husband "You got that right! And I'll do it again!" she winked playfully. Sasuke grunted and turned away from her.

"I'm fine."

"Sure you are." Sakura looked unconvinced. "Now, why didn't you guys fix dinner? Keiko is hungry!" she motioned towards her sorrowful looking daughter. "And Hisoka is…" she glanced over at his stoic form "…being emo."

The Uchiha turned back to her "It's the dumb dobe's fault."

"Did you feed Yasuo?" she suddenly looked worried.

Sasuke gave a small sigh. How dumb did she think he was? "Of course I did."

Her face brightened "Thanks Sasuke!" she kissed his cheek "You're the best!"

He turned away so that she couldn't see his face turning red. The truth was, she still had that strange effect on him. You know, that effect where his stomach would turn flips and his face would heat up.

Naruto lifted his head weakly and caught sight of the blush. His face suddenly lit up "HA!" he laughed pointing at his best friend.

Sasuke leaned over and pounded the blonde's head into the ground.

Hyuuga Neji entered the room and looked at the chaos around him. He shook his head and exited the room. Hinata got up and ran after her cousin, leaving Nina to care for her father.

"No Otousan! It's Nina! My name is Nina!" she yelled to her dizzy father.

"Nahs oo mee yoo. (nice to meet you.)"

Sakura shook her head despairingly and rose up on both legs. "I'm leaving, and when I get back I expect this kitchen to be clean!" her cheerful smile suddenly turned to a look of murderous rage "OR ELSE!"

If Sasuke were any other man, he would've burst into tears. Instead he stared coolly at his strangely moody wife. She sure was acting strange lately. A sudden thought occurred to him. She couldn't be… could she? Nah it was probably just that time of the month again or something… Then again she was acting kind of funny.

Sakura noticed his calculative gaze and blinked in surprise "What, is something wrong?"

He shook his head. If she were pregnant then when would she have conceived? He thought on it for a moment before it struck him. The day after the reunion for those from his class. She had looked so beautiful in her gown with her hair pinned up that he… Sasuke grinned, he wasn't gonna think about it right now. Should he ask her about it? Nah, he'd wait till it was safe.

"It's nothing."

"Hn." She smirked "I thought so."

He stared at her retreating form with a smirk forming on his own lips. She was a strange one alright but he wouldn't have it any other way. His smirk instantly dropped as he surveyed the mess in the kitchen. This would take a while.

-

-

That night after all the children were all tucked in and given good night kisses from their mother, Sasuke finally managed to corner Sakura as she brushed her hair before going to sleep. She blinked up sleepily at him while absentmindedly continuing her slow strokes.

"Sasuke? What is it?"

He watched as she pulled her hair into a low ponytail and climbed into the bed. She sat up Indian style to stare at him evenly. He shook his head once more and climbed in so that he was seated right across from her.

"Sakura." He said her name slowly and carefully as if trying to figure something out. She stared at him in confusion.

"Sasuke, you're freaking me out…" she chuckled nervously.

Sasuke reached out a hand and gently pushed a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. She turned pink at the contact but never looked away from him. "Don't be." He said soothingly as he lay down, she copied his action.

He lay there staring at her contemplatively for several minutes. "How are you feeling?"

"What kind of question is that?"

He sighed patiently "Just answer."

"Well…" she paused to think "I've thrown up a little lately, but I think it was due to Ino's famous curry stew. Besides that I don't see anything wrong."

"Are you sure?" he pressed.

Sakura stared at her husband strangely. He was thinking of something. If only she knew what. She closed her eyes "No I'm not sure."

"I was thinking…" Sasuke said slowly, fixing his gaze on the ceiling now. "You might be… well you know…" this time there was no hiding the pink that rose to his cheeks. Sakura gasped.

"You mean…"

"Yeah." He covered his face with his free hand as she went over the possibilities in her mind. The possibility of another child was overwhelming. Hisoka, Keiko, and Yasuo kept them busy enough but another one? Not that she minded children it was just that… the more that she fulfilled Sasuke's dream the less she fulfilled her own, to be a great ninja. She still worked as a medic during her free time but it wasn't the same. She trained just to keep her body in shape. Even that wasn't enough, she secretly longed for another mission, any mission.

Her emerald eyes closed. This would mean even more years of waiting. When she opened her eyes she saw Sasuke's expectant expression. She couldn't help but smile. It would put her dream on hold, but it was worth seeing that expression on his face.

"It's alright," she said after a moment "I think it'll be fun to have another child."

Sasuke's eyes widened "Are you sure?"

"Well it's not my decision anymore is it?" she held a hand to her stomach "I mean, it's not like I would abort him or anything."

"Him?"

She stuck her tongue out "It's just a guess."

He smirked at the childish female as she crawled over and curled up to him. She was so weird sometimes. She sighed contentedly as she buried her face in his chest. It was then that Sasuke decided that weird was good.

-

-

And that's the end of Chapter one! Yay! –looks around empty room- okay… anywayzers it was lame and stupid but who cares… I just feel like writing it for some reason so I'm gonna do just that. I was just reading a really good story while writing this so I'm feeling really good right now. Please don't shoot me down –whimpers-

**Anywayzers, please review. There's no review limit although I would appreciate at least ten reviews –hint hint- **

**Oh I have a question… would you rather be an Uchiha or Hyuuga?**


	2. Chapter 2

Wow… that's a lot of reviews for a first chapter. Sorry I'm kinda overwhelmed because that's the most reviews I've ever received for a first chapter in my life. I ran downstairs to boast to my sister.

Oh yeah, a special thanks to kataang2 who somehow always manages to brighten my day. –waves cheerfully-

Okay, for all you confused people out there here's a list of the parents and children.

Sasuke and Sakura: Hisoka, Keiko, Yasuo, and one on the way.

Naruto and Hinata: Nina and one on the way

Neji and Tenten: Ryoichi and Takashi (two boys)

Shikamaru and Ino: Sachiko (a girl)

Oh yes just so you know those are all authentic Japanese names, I looked them all up on instead of combining noises and praying that it sounds alright.

**Anywayzers, here's chapter two as promised. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I will continue to stalk Sasuke.**

**-**

**-**

Tsunade nodded her head gravely as she examined her former student who lay on the examination table. The pink haired woman looked back up at her former teacher and sighed. It was confirmed. Uchiha Sakura was officially pregnant… again.

"He sure is bent on reviving the clan." Tsunade laughed, "I thought he wanted one or two kids to carry his name, but I think he's planning on bringing them all back."

Sakura rolled her eyes as her teacher laughed over her pregnancy. She could laugh all day for all she cared. Biting her lip she lay a hand on her stomach where her next child was being formed. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of the door slamming open.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura looked surprised and annoyed at the same time. What was he doing here? "Naruto-kun? What is I-"

He leapt across the room and clutched her hands desperately. "I heard you were dying! I came as fast I can!"

"Hu-wha?" she asked intelligently.

"What happened to you?" he sobbed into his hands which were holding her hands which resulted in her getting very wet fingers. A vein throbbed on her head.

"What's wrong with you?" she snapped as she punched him on the head. The blonde fell back clutching his sore head.

"I asked Sasuke-teme if something was wrong and he said nothing …" he explained "I asked Hisoka and he said you were dying!"

Sakura stared at him in disbelief. This boy was unbelievable. "Naruto. You. Are. An. Idiot."

"What?"

She rolled her eyes "Hisoka was being sarcastic."

He paused as though the thought just struck him. "Oh!"

Tsunade watched both of them and shook her head with a rueful smile. Sometimes she wondered why she even chose him as her successor. He sure was an idiot. She smiled as Sakura picked up the Hokage by the back of his pants and flung him out the window.

"Sakura?"

"Yes Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura batted her eyes innocently.

"That was a third story window."

"…Oh…"

-

-

It was a pretty peaceful morning, the perfect type of morning to have a talk with one's son. Which was what Sasuke was trying to do as he walked leisurely through Konoha. He remembered his wife's warning:

"If you don't stop him from being emo, I'll make sure that you never have kids again!"

Sasuke winced at the thought. He couldn't have that now could he? He glanced down at his son who walked with his hands in his pockets, a mirror image of his father. The older Uchiha sighed, Sakura was right. The boy was just like him.

"Hisoka."

"Hn?"

"I-" he didn't get any further

"INCOMING!" they both looked up to see the Hokage flying out a window. He landed in the dust a few feet in front of them. Both males raised their eyebrows but made no motion to help him.

"I'm okay!" the blonde yelled, his voice muffled by the mouthful of dirt.

"Hn."

Sasuke glanced down at his son who stared indifferently at the Hokage. "Listen Hisoka, you need to stop being… stop being like me and just be a kid for once." He said as they stepped over Naruto.

"Why?" the boy's black eyes were filled with curiosity. Sasuke did an inner victory dance; at least he got some emotion out of him.

"Because you only get to be a child once. I lost my childhood at an early age. I never had much fun… but you have the chance to do all those things that I never did. I don't want any of my children to have a wasted childhood." It took all of his self restraint to prevent himself from answering with an 'Hn.'

'_There Sakura! I said an entire paragraph. I hope you're happy!'_ he thought vehemently.

The young boy looked up at his father wide eyed. His father was his role model; he wanted to be everything like him. That and he was naturally quiet natured…

"Okay."

Sasuke's eyebrows shot up. "Really?" he nearly choked on his own voice.

The boy nodded his head slowly; his dark bangs falling over his equally dark eyes. "If you say so."

Sasuke was surprised. What would make the boy give it up so easily? Was he that bad of a role model? His eyes widened in horror. Maybe… he wasn't good enough… no that was foolish. He needed to look into it more. Maybe the boy trusted him at his word or maybe he had other interests. Other interests… Sasuke pondered… interesting…

"Uchiha-san! Hisoka-kun!" both males looked up to see Uzumaki Nina running towards them, her mother trailing behind.

Hisoka's face turned red. Sasuke's jaw almost dropped… "Hi N-Nina-chan…" the boy greeted shyly as the said blonde gave him a hug.

"Hisoka-kun! Have you seen Otousan anywhere?" her large gray looked eagerly into his. Sasuke noticed that behind the gray he could see faint hints of sky blue.

The boy pulled himself away from her in a vain attempt to regain his dignity. "He just fell out of a window a few moments ago." He explained.

"Again?" Hinata asked as she finally caught up with her energetic daughter. "H-how come every time I find h-him he's f-falling out of windows?"

Sasuke shrugged with a brief smirk. He was still crowing over his latest discovery. His son had other interests now, he noted as the young Uchiha stared at the hyperactive girl. She was pretty for a four year old, and very cheerful. Maybe she would be a good match for his son. Then he'd be related to that idiot Uzumaki. Sasuke's expression dropped. That could be a problem.

Hinata seemed to notice his facial expression as she stared at him curiously. "I-is anything wrong Sasuke-san?"

He shook his head numbly as the two children conversed. Well, it was mainly Nina talking with Hisoka agreeing. The ex-Hyuuga heiress managed to catch his eye. She raised an eyebrow in question. He nodded his head.

Her eyes widened as she stared at the two children as they interacted. A knowing look came across her face. "I see…"

"You see what Okasan?" Nina blinked up at her mother.

Hinata folded her arms and smiled "Nothing. Come on, let's go drag your father to the hospital."

"Again?"

"Again. Afterwards we'll walk him to the office and go out for ice cream."

"Yay!"

Hinata shuddered slightly and gazed up at the gray sky "It's getting colder." She said to no one in particular "Christmas should be here soon."

"Yay! Christmas!" Nina cheered excitedly. She grabbed Hisoka's hands and danced in a circle with him. "Christmas! Christmas!" she chanted as the Uchiha blushed.

Sasuke smirked. This was a surprise. A Hyuuga being bold while an Uchiha blushed like a school girl. This was definitely different. Hinata seemed to be thinking the same thing as she smirked back at him. Life was certainly full of surprises.

-

-

"-and she'll need a new stuffed bear because Akamaru ate it and… Shikamaru? Shikamaru? ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?"

Shikamaru covered his ears as his wife bellowed into his ears his daughter repeated his actions. "Yes I'm listening… troublesome woman…" he muttered under his breath. Why did he even marry such a troublesome woman anyway?

Ino smiled brightly, instantly reminding him why he married her. "Good. Now I think that's everything on the shopping list. You guys ready?" she asked cheerfully.

Her daughter nodded her head, her dark brown ponytail bouncing. Sky blue met sky blue as Ino gazed down at her daughter.

"Good. I'll see you guys in an hour! Oh and Sachiko, make sure he doesn't fall asleep while standing in line again. I don't think the grocier (sp?) can handle another minute of that."

The girl smiled back at her mother as she connected hands with her father. As soon as they got out of earshot they both muttered in unison "Troublesome…"

-

-

Sakura waved goodbye to the former Hokage as she left the hospital. She was feeling strangely bittersweet about the whole predicament. She was happy and yet sad at the same time.

"Oh well… being a shinobi isn't everything I guess." She said aloud in an attempt to make herself feel better. It didn't work. "Rats."

She continued to walk aimlessly as she engaged in her favorite pastime. It had been a while since she actually had time to do this. She could thank Tenten and Neji for that. The Hyuuga captain was given a break for two weeks in which he spent time with his family and Sasuke's. For some reason, he had taken a liking to Keiko and Yasuo and constantly had Tenten ask to baby-sit them. Sakura smiled, she was glad that they had bonded. She loved Neji and wanted him to be part of her family.

As she walked she finally reached her destination, the grocery store where she was to meet Tenten to pick up her kids. After a few minutes of waiting she caught sight of a familiar figure walking towards her with a child in tow.

"Hello Shikamaru-san… how are you doing?" she asked pleasantly.

The said man glanced at her and shrugged. "…troublesome…"

"I don't recall that being a particular mood or state of being." She grinned. She recently discovered why Ino and Naruto liked irking the brunette.

"Hi Aunty Sakura!" she glanced down to see Sachiko staring up at her with a smile similar to her mother's.

Sakura knelt down to give the girl a brief hug. "Sachiko-chan can you do me a favor?"

The small girl nodded her head quickly, eager to please her beloved 'aunty'.

"Can you tell Tenten-chan to take the children to Sasuke? There's something I have to do." The girl nodded again, this time with a steady smile on her small face.

"Alright!"

"Arigato Sachiko-chan…" Sakura smiled and turned to Shikamaru who watched them with a small smile on his face. "I'll see you later Shikamaru." He gave a lazy two fingered salute and yawned.

-

-

"She said WHAT?"

Tenten cowered under the Uchiha's harsh glare. "Sh-she said that Sakura wants you to take the children. She something she had to do."

Sasuke continued his death glare, enjoying the effect it was having on the trembling brunette. Her son Ryoichi activated his byakugan and glared back up at him. _'Oh it's on now!'_

Hyuuga Neji walked up to see his wife hiding behind her son who was engaging in a fierce death glare battle with none other than Uchiha Sasuke. He stared at the group in surprise. This was weird.

"Ahem."

Tenten turned to him gratefully "Neji!" she flung herself into his arms. Keiko who was standing with her twin on the sidelines glanced up at her father disapprovingly. Takashi ran up to Sasuke and kicked him in the shins.

Sasuke ignored the pain in his shins and met the Hyuuga's disapproving gaze. "Thank you for watching over my children." He ground out through gritted teeth.

Neji nodded "You're welcome." He said with equal stiffness.

The tension was broken as Keiko tugged on the back of her father's pants. He quickly grabbed a hold of them before something embarrassing happened. That was the last thing he needed, losing his pants in front of the Hyuuga.

"What?"

"Can we go home now?" she blinked up at her father causing him to instantly melt. She always had that kind of effect on him. Maybe it was the fact that she resembled her mother so much. She was such a sweet child, that everyone couldn't help but fall for her. Until now, she was the only one who could drag a conversation out of her stoic twin.

Sasuke's eyes softened inadvertently. At that moment Tenten's fear for him disappeared as she saw the tenderness in his eyes. It was almost heartwarming, the obvious emotion he held for his family. She smiled against her will.

"Sure."

-

-

It was amazing how much Sasuke had changed from the time when he was a teenager hungry for revenge. Now here he stood, rocking his one year old son to sleep for his afternoon nap. If Itachi walked in on him now he would've died laughing. Sasuke smirked, that would have been worth seeing. Thoughts of his brother no longer haunted him now that he was dead. It surprised him how much of his life Itachi had eaten up. Now that he was dead he could live again. The feeling was like none he had ever felt before. He was…free.

"Otousan?" Sasuke glanced up to see Hisoka standing at the doorway.

"Hn-I mean, yes?"

The boy walked closer until he was standing at the edge of the cradle. He stood on his tiptoes and peered carefully down into his sleeping brother's face. Yasuo lay curled up, holding his stuffed bear close to him.

"He's sleeping?"

Sasuke nodded, never moving his gaze from his sleeping son. He looked so peaceful lying there, with his short brown hair standing in every direction. He remembered how Sakura angrily snatched scissors and cut his son's hair declaring that "We're not having another Sasuke-look-alike in here!"

Speaking of the devil, where was she? She was missing for most of the morning. Not like he missed her or anything… he was just curious that's all. Curious and hungry.

"Has your mother come home yet?"

Keiko entered the room and looked between the two before shaking her head. "Okasan's been gone for a long time…" she whimpered, "Where is she?"

"I have no idea." He answered truthfully. He glared in no particular direction. She'd better come home or else!

-

-

Uchiha Sakura had to clutch the edge of the Hokage's desk in order to keep from falling. Her eyes were wide as she stared down a the Hokage who gazed back up at her coolly, regardless of the fact that she just flung him out the window a few hours ago.

"Y-you want me to…" she trailed off, not trusting her voice anymore. She shook her head "I-I c-can't! I have a family and-"

"Sakura-chan." Naruto cut in patiently, his gaze softening. "I know, but you're the only one we can go to. Granny Tsunade is getting up there in years. Her health is failing because of…"

Sakura lowered her head "The mark…"

"…Yeah…" he cleared his throat awkwardly, gaining her attention once more. "Please Sakura, you said you wanted to do this now here's your chance. I heard that you were a few weeks pregnant. The mission will only take about a month or two, giving you enough time before you have to start taking things easy."

She clenched her fists at her side as he spoke. It was true; she wanted this more than anything… Would she be able to handle it? What about Sasuke and the family? Naruto seemed to have read her mind; he gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about the children. I'll make sure that someone is taking care of them at all times. I'll also give Sasuke shorter and less missions to ensure that they are taken care of."

This seemed to destroy any doubt she had before. Her head snapped upward "I-"

Naruto leaned forward to wait for her response.

-

-

It was four o'clock in the evening and that woman was still not home. Sasuke was fuming in a corner while rocking a wailing Yasuo to sleep, again. This time he had to hold him in his arms while his other children watched with wide eyes.

"Otousan?" Keiko piped up, taking the lollipop out of her mouth "I'm pretty sure that Okasan doesn't rock him that hard."

"Are you trying to kill him?" Hisoka scoffed.

Sasuke glared at the two demons, I mean children. What did they know about babies anyway? They were only four and a half years old, not even old enough to understand where babies come from for Kami's sake! While Sasuke, on the other hand fully understood where they came from. He gave a perverted grin. Yes indeed. He shook his head, bad Sasuke bad!

"Don't you have something you guys should be doing?" he asked while trying to ease up his rocking. It was a wonder that Yasuo didn't have whiplash already.

Both twins shook their heads "No."

"Well go do something!" he snapped, growing irritated. Uchiha Sasuke loved his children, but not THAT much. He wondered how Sakura managed to spend days on end with them. He would've lost his sanity years ago.

"We don't want to." They said in unison. Great they were rebelling.

Sasuke gave one of his famous death glares which surprisingly had no effect on the twins. He was losing his touch with age. Wait a minute did he just say age? No, there was no way that THE Uchiha avenger was getting old… and possibly senile. Was he?

Seeing their father's worried expression, the twins shared a glance. "Is something wrong?" they asked in unison.

Okay calm down… he was probably just overreacting again… something he had been doing a lot of lately. No one was getting old; he was just tired that's all. He needed to take a nap. Wait, old people take naps. His eyes widened. Not again.

While he had this very strange inner panic attack, Keiko took the liberty of relieving him of Yasuo and holding the boy close to her small from. "Shhh… go to sleep Yasuo-chan…"

The infant slowly closed his chocolate brown eyes and drifted off to sleep, leaving an astounded Uchiha Sasuke. How come women were able to do the one thing that he couldn't?

Speaking of women… the door slammed open as Sakura burst into the house. She sped towards where she sensed the chakra presences of her family in the kitchen. Sasuke was seated on a stool while Keiko stood holding Yasuo with an indifferent looking Hisoka standing to the side.

"I'm home!" she said cheerfully.

Sasuke stood up sharply "Where were you?"

"The Hokage's office…" she grinned as she removed her coat. "Don't you want to know what I was doing there?"

"No." Sasuke said.

"Hn." Hisoka said.

"Okasan I think he wet his diaper." Keiko said.

She sighed heavily. "Isn't anyone curious?"

"I am." Keiko piped up as she passed a smelly Yasuo to her mother. Sakura wrinkled her nose at the odor.

"Someone definitely needs a diaper change."

"Yeah Keiko!" Hisoka stuck his tongue out at his angered twin.

"OKASAN!"

Yasuo woke up and began wailing again. Sakura made a face as she rushed out the room. She returned a few minutes later with a sleeping bundle curled up against her.

Sasuke reached over and gently relieved her of the small child. He looked down at his wife who smiled up at him. "Sasuke-kun…" she said softly. Sasuke's stomach did a flip at the way she said his name. Again.

"I want you all to know that I officially am going on a mission."

The reactions were very mixed. Sasuke nearly dropped Yasuo "WHAT?"

"A mission?" Keiko asked.

"Take me with you." Hisoka begged.

"For how long?" Sasuke demanded his sharingan activated in anger.

Sakura noticed his anger and blinked up in surprise. His reaction was starting to upset her a little. She thought that he would support her on this. "T-two months…"

Sasuke was about to say something but just shook his head. "We'll talk about it later."

"What's there to talk about?" she demanded, stamping her foot impatiently "Naruto-kun already has the mission lined up! I'm leaving for the Village Hidden in The Clouds tomorrow."

"Why didn't you even ask?" Sasuke snapped, the comas in his eyes twirling madly.

"I thought that you for one would support me!" she choked back an oncoming sob as she shook her head. "There's nothing to talk about Sasuke. I'm leaving tomorrow. Naruto said he'll make sure that you or someone else takes care of the children."

"Sakura…"

"End of conversation!" she stormed out the room leaving her shocked family behind. Keiko whimpered as she clung onto the leg of her father's pants.

"Way to screw things up." Hisoka remarked as he left the room. Sasuke decided that he shouldn't have had that talk with Hisoka. He liked him better when he was silent.

-

-

**End Chapter**

Wow… lotsa drama there eh? Like I said, every marriage ain't perfect. Sorry if this isn't as light-hearted as the other chapter. I'm in a dark mood.! –grumbles-

Oh just so you know, I do apologize for some of the sentence lines being so close together but that is not my fault. I have Microsoft Word 2000 on my dinosaur computer and they just do that no matter how far apart I space them. Sorry.

Anywayzers, please review and I'll try to update on Monday. Depends how I feel.

The Uchiha clan won. I'm not sure if I can keep the question thing up. I can't think of any other questions. Oh wait, I got one. Who do you like better (as in character, or who's hotter or whatever…) Deidara or Itachi? Ooh tough one! –evil laugh- I am too evil.

Please review. I'm not gonna put a limit unless I have to –glares pointedly-


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it took so very long, I was sick for the New Years. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I missed out on the greatest party night ever because of a freakin cold! I am so mad! This chapter is mainly comprised of… well read to find out. I won't be able to update that often. My family is going through problems. Sorry.

Not much to say. Okay, for all you confused people out there here's a list of the parents and children.

Sasuke and Sakura: Hisoka, Keiko, Yasuo, and one on the way.

Naruto and Hinata: Nina and one on the way

Neji and Tenten: Ryoichi and Takashi (two boys)

Shikamaru and Ino: Sachiko (a girl)

**Sakura is 24, Sasuke is 24 ½ , and Neji is 25.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I figured you guys were smart enough to figure it out.**

**-**

**-**

Awkward. That was the only word Sasuke could think of that night as he lay beside his wife. She had her back turned to him and he could tell from her breathing that she was wide awake. Her chakra was swirling angrily through her body. He figured that if he were to talk, now would be the time.

"Listen," he sighed, laying an arm across his forehead "I didn't mean to get angry."

She rolled over and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He prayed that she wouldn't lash out at him.

She gave a heavy sigh "You could've tried to be excited for me."

"…"

"Okay, I think we both overreacted. I should've asked your opinion but I really wanted this." She fully rolled over so that they lay inches away from each other. "Do you want me to go on this mission?"

"What kind of mission is it?"

"S rank. I'll be staying in the Village Hidden In The Clouds for a maximum of two months, helping them reestablish a medic nin training program. They're low on medics and we just re-strengthened their bonds." She explained tiredly while absentmindedly playing with his hair, something that he loved. "Naruto-kun decided that it would be best to show his trust in them by sending the best medic nin that we have. You understand don't you?"

To be honest, it was slightly difficult to talk while having her play in his hair. He relished the feeling of her cool fingers on his scalp. He swallowed and nodded. "It's okay." He finally said, "I think I can handle things here."

Sakura's face brightened as she smiled. "Really? Are you sure about it?"

"Tch. How hard can it be?" he asked confidently.

-

-

"This is impossible."

Sasuke buried his face in his hands at the chaos all around him. Naruto was supposed to be helping out but managed to set another meal on fire… again. Hisoka was watching Naruto while calling him a moron under his breath. Keiko was crying uncontrollable at the sight of fire. Yasuo wailed from his crib in the corner. Ino (who was also supposed to be helping) was trying to calm Yasuo while spraying the fire extinguisher at what once was their breakfast. Shikamaru was trying to let out the wild animals that Sachiko brought in.

A bird landed on Sasuke's shoulders. He seriously wished that he had have shut his stupid mouth on that night. Stupid Sakura and her magic fingers.

_Flashback_

"… _and Hisoka likes plenty of milk, he says it helps build extra strong bones for training. I think that's everything." Sakura stood in her thinking position as she explained the list to her husband. They were standing at the village gates with the genin team and his family._

"_You got that?" she asked seriously. Sasuke nodded at her, his gaze wandering to her new outfit. She wore a purple blouse with slits going down the sleeves and matching black pants. Her long pink hair was clipped up with the ends spiking in every direction. Light lip gloss enhanced the color of her lips. It took all of his strength to tear his gaze away from her. Why was she looking so sexy for a mission? Of course he would never say that aloud…_

_She followed his gaze and giggled, "You're wondering about the outfit aren't you?"_

_He nodded before he knew what he was doing._

"_I have all my serious medic stuff in here. However, just in case we run across enemy shinobi we want to look like ordinary medics, not ninja. Besides, I think this outfit is hot. Don't you?" she put her hands behind her back cutely._

"_Yeah..." he croaked. Aw crap._

"_I thought you would." She smiled before turning to the three children, one of them which lay in Ino's arms. _

_She leaned over her sleepy infant "Goodbye Yasuo…" she cooed, tickling him softly "Take care okay?" she turned to Keiko and Hisoka "You two take care of the house? I'm trusting you to show you father how I get things done, okay?" she hugged the two who muffled an 'ok' into her blouse._

_Sakura waved to Ino and smiled secretively. "Okay that's everyone!" she turned to her team of medic nin which comprised of two males and two females. "Let's go!" she punched a fist into the air, then paused. "Oh wait, I forgot something."_

_Sasuke wasn't one to be easily surprised. He was, however very surprised when Sakura grabbed him by the front of the shirt and kissed him for all she was worth. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to him and enjoying every ounce of her warmth. Not like he minded or anything… _

_The wolf whistles and cat calls that they received from surrounding villagers cut their kiss short. Sakura pulled back a little, her face an inch from his. "I'll see you in two months." She pressed her lips to his quickly._

"_Bye!" she walked off so that she was at the head of the gates._

_The two male ninja stared at Sasuke with obvious envy. He smirked arrogantly at them "Hn." He wasn't even going to waste clever words on these peons. They were stupid medic nins, nothing compared to the Uchiha Avenger. Somehow thinking that seriously boosted his pride._

_He turned to the beautiful woman as she flashed him one more smile "Goodbye."_

_-_

_-_

"GOOD GRIEF!" Ino yelled, slamming the empty fire extinguisher on the ground "DO ALL OF THESE THINGS RUN OUT SO EASILY?! KEIKO! FIND ME ANOTHER ONE!"

Keiko ran off quickly. Sasuke stood up abruptly, grabbing the bird off his shoulder and flinging it out the window. "ENOUGH!" he slammed his fists on the table, shocking everyone into silence.

He stormed over to the oven and flung the pan out the window after the bird. Several screams came from that direction. "HELP! I'M ON FIRE!"

He stared unblinkingly at Naruto who once again was wearing his wife's apron. It looked way better on Sakura. Waves of anger emanated from his stiff form. His sharingan eyes glared piercingly at everyone in view.

"You guys are idiots." He hissed.

"That's what I was trying to say." Hisoka folded his arms and turned his head in the other direction.

Ino blinked at him blankly. She bounced Yasuo on his her hip and glared. "Well, you're not that much better!" she snapped, her blue eyes flashing dangerously. "You barely even helped!" Sasuke couldn't take his eyes off her. She and Sakura really did look a like. Except for the fact that Ino's mouth was usually wide open.

All Sasuke had to do was point. Shikamaru ran by flapping a towel at a badger. "Sachiko!" he panted, "Next time you want to start a zoo for Keiko, do it outside!"

The blonde nodded her head slowly, her eyes still angry though. She turned to Yasuo who began whimpering loudly. "Fine. Let me put this little one to sleep and we'll clean up." She walked towards the doorway and then stopped "WITH YOUR HELP!" Yasuo began crying.

Sasuke groaned and turned to Naruto who's entire face and front half of his body turned black. "Uh teme? Is this a bad time to mention that I need medical attention?"

-

-

Cleaning up was long and difficult. Especially with the animal tracks on the couch. Somehow after three hours they managed to make the Uchiha mansion look as good as new. As the group stood around admiring their work Hisoka tapped Sasuke.

"What?"

"What's for lunch?"

Everyone's shoulders dropped. _'Here we go again.' _Sasuke thought.

-

-

The job of a Hokage is a difficult one, filled with tough decisions, impossible tasks, hard to deal with people, and stacks of scrolls. Which is why Naruto usually put it off on his friends. Kiba shook his fist out the window "CURSE YOU UZUMAKI!"

"Shut up and stack!" Aburame Shino grunted from behind a large pile of scrolls. Hyuuga Neji sat at the Hokage's desk, assigning a mission to a team of chuunin. The small group looked at the superior ninja fearfully. They sure were in a bad mood.

"Why does that damn Uzumaki always do that to us?" the Inuzuka growled as he violently slammed a stack of fresh scrolls on the ground. "Why can't he just handle this himself?"

"Because, he has to help Uchiha at home. It's his sworn duty."

"If you ask me, he'll only make things worse."

Shino shrugged as best as he could under the pile of scrolls "Probably. Still, we get extra credit for this. You'll be anbu captain in no time." he lied.

"Really? You think so?" Kiba's eyes began shining brightly as he fantasized about himself being the anbu captain to a team of hot older women. He began drooling.

"And people say my bugs are disgusting…" Shino mumbled.

-

-

Hinata stared up at the window to the Hokage's office as Kiba cursed out the window. Curse you Uzumaki… was he talking about her and Nina? She wondered as she glanced down at her daughter who stared up with a raised eyebrow.

"Uncle Kiba sure is weird." The girl folded her arms and squinted upwards in a 'Naruto-like' motion.

Hinata had to nod her head in agreement. "Come on, let's see what's going on."

Once they entered the office they were met by Hinata's teammates and her cousin who all wore angry expression on their faces. A chuunin team in the corner stood trembling. She gave them a brief reassuring smile before turning to the said trio.

"Hello?" she called out meekly.

"Hinata!" Kiba dropped his pile of scrolls in relief "Thank goodness you're here! Now you can go tell that stupid husband of yours to do his own damn work!"

Her gray eyes narrowed at her teammate "Watch your language." She motioned down at her daughter who was soaking this all in and probably planning to use it later. Kiba nodded understandingly, his mouth forming a small 'O'.

"Now, w-what was that about my husband?" she put a hand on her hips and stared at her teammate disapprovingly. It was amazing how much she had changed since marrying Naruto. Being married to him must've been a scaring experience. Kiba shuddered.

"Well, he's shirking off his duties on us!" he exploded, waving his arms like a madman "He has me and Shino do his physical labor while Neji sits there like a freakin' scholar and assigns missions all day! It's gotten so bad that Neji needs glasses now!" he pointed to the Hyuuga who quickly removed a pair of thick framed glasses.

"What?" he asked defensively.

Hinata shook her head slowly. Naruto had been lazing around lately. He needed to get up and start working again like the Hokage he said he would be. She gave a small sigh "So w-where is he n-now?"

"Uchiha's." the three deadpanned.

"Doing?"

"Cooking probably." Neji coughed at Kiba's suggestion. Kiba narrowed his eyes. That cough sounded suspiciously like laughter.

Hinata and Nina's eyes both widened in horror. "COOKING?" they shrieked causing the chuunin team to burst into tears.

The three men nodded, confused.

"W-why didn't you stop him?" Hinata demanded, furious at the three men closest to her. They each took a step back.

Kiba spoke up quickly "What do you mean?" he turned back to the other two who shrugged, each as confused as he was. His head whipped around as Hinata stomped right up to him.

"Naruto-kun will probably go down in history. Not just as the only smiling Hokage, or sixth Hokage, or even the knucklehead ninja." She waved a finger under the shrinking Inuzuka's nose. "But as the worst cook ever!"

"It's gotten so bad that Grandpa had a moat built beside our house in case of fire!" Nina piped up from behind her mother, her eyes as furious as the older female's.

'_Freaky.' _The three men thought.

Hinata turned to her daughter "Come on Nina! We have to stop them!"

"Right!"

The two females disappeared leaving three shocked future clan leaders. They all turned to each other and shrugged before resuming their work. Some things were best left alone.

-

-

Sasuke wondered if the day would ever brighten. He was starting to doubt it when two angels appeared at his door demanding to take Naruto with him. '_Hallelujah.'_ He thought as he led the two said angels to where Naruto was attempting to cook a meal… again. This time Ino said she would stand over his shoulder and prevent him from doing anything wrong.

"He's cooking?" Hinata demanded in shock. Sasuke was shocked himself. Since when did she demand stuff? He was starting to think that something was wrong… besides the usual abnormalities.

She rushed into the kitchen and stopped at the doorway, her jaw dropped in a very un-Hyuuga -like fashion. "N-Naruto?" she gasped.

There stood her husband, leaning over the oven and stir frying something in the pan. That wasn't what surprised her. It was the fact that it wasn't burnt and it actually smelt good. Little Nina looked just as surprised as her mother.

"Otousan?" she shook her little blonde head before running up to him "Y-you're cooking!"

"Yeah?" Naruto grinned.

"The house isn't on fire!" she cried.

Naruto continued grinning as he turned back to the pan. "Let's just say, I took some lessons. They worked. I had a great teacher." He turned to a beaming Ino. "This is probably the only time I'll ever say something like that to you. You'd better enjoy it while you can." Her beaming smile turning into a death ray. He gulped and turned back to the pan.

Hinata took a step forward "Naruto, t-this is great! I-I'm really amazed!" she looked down into the pan. Stir fried vegetables and noodles. She took a whiff of it. It actually smelt good. This was a complete shock to her system. Naruto and cooking never went together. He was even stupid enough to drink milk past its expiration date once. How was he suddenly able to cook? She turned to Ino. The woman smirked superiorly.

"Hey, I'm a great teacher. My genin team tells me that all the time!" Shikamaru rolled his eyes in the background.

A few minutes later they all sat down at the table with the delicious smelling food set before them. Naruto and Ino both grinned "Dig in everybody!"

Everyone separated their chopsticks. Hisoka was the only one who didn't. He stared at the food with a doubtful expression on his face.

"Hisoka-kun? Aren't you going to eat?" Sachiko asked in between yawns.

"Aren't you?" he retorted.

"It's too troublesome…" she sighed "Besides, I already ate." She held up an empty bag of potato chips, courtesy of Choji. "I might eat a little though. What about you?"

"Think about it. Those two making something that tastes good." he scoffed "That's impossible."

"Oh ye of little faith." Ino sneered down at the boy before taking a large mouthful of noodles. A second later she was spitting it out onto her plate. Everyone else was doing the same.

"See?" Hisoka said, "Told you."

Ino glared at Naruto, her eyes suggesting that she was ready to kill at that very instant. "WHAT DID YOU PUT INTO THIS?"

"ME?" the other blonde yelled, standing up "I DID EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID!"

The two began yelling at each other from across the table. Hinata patiently covered Nina's ears while Sachiko and Shikamaru ducked for cover. They've been through fights like those before and they always turned out ugly.

Hisoka motioned towards Keiko. She quickly got up and followed her brother into the corner of the kitchen. "What is it?" she asked, blinking her large eyes at him in confusion.

"Check the kitchen. Naruto screwed something up and we need to find out what." He said seriously. His twin nodded before scanning the counters while he checked the floor and garbage can.

"Got it." He said after a few moments. She ran over towards where he stood holding an empty bottle of…

"OLIVE OIL!" Sasuke cried after taking another taste of the noodles. "How much did you add?" he glared at the two blondes.

"The whole bottle!" Keiko gasped.

"No way…" Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Ino groaned in unison.

"Yes way." Hisoka nodded in confirmation at his surprised twin "Naruto is an absolute-"

"IDIOT!" Ino shrieked hitting the blonde with a nearby rolling pin provided by Sachiko.

"Well…" Hisoka folded his arms "It looked just like the-"

"-Soy sauce bottle!" Naruto whimpered.

"I wonder if he even knows…" Keiko said thoughtfully.

"What you're doing! Are you stupid or…"

"Something weird is happening." Hisoka sighed, "Let's go check up on them." Keiko nodded as she hurried after her brother who was way too smart for someone his age.

-

-

**End Chapter**

I decided to end the chapter now because I'm tired. Anywayzers, I added the Kiba, Shino, Neji scene because I don't add enough of them and I decided that they need their props. –claps-

**So um… chapter four will come out whenever… I'm not too sure really. I've been really busy with family issues and stuff. Remember the marital counseling? Well things have gotten worse since then so… yeah… -clears throat-**

**Like I said, I'm not going to add a amount of reviews I want. Although 100 would be nice –hint hint- I can't think of any questions really. Ummm let's see… Chocolate or Caramel? You can't say both! I prefer chocolate; I've always disliked Caramel. Oh yeah, um Itachi won last time by a landslide. Be strong my fellow Deidara lovers –sniffle- be strong.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry I took forever. I've been going through some serious issues at home and don't have the time to update as frequently as I used to. I probably won't be able to for another three weeks so please bear with me.**

**Disclaimer: Why do we need disclaimers? It's a fan site for God's sake!**

**-**

**-**

The warm midday sun shone down on the backs of the medic nin as they leaped from tree branch to tree branch. It had only been a day since they left Konoha and they were already being pursued by a band of rogue ninja. Sakura was the first person to spot them, sensing their chakra presences and seeing the flicker in the trees. She immediately called her team into action and away they went.

So here they were… running for their lives. At least that's what the rogue ninja thought. Sakura glanced behind her to see the gap between them slowly closing.

"Hikaru! They're catching up!" she called out to the male medic in front of her. Hikaru looked back at her and cursed under his breath.

"We need to get these medicines to the rain village! There's no way we can let them have it!" he yelled, his acting perfect. Sakura smirked at him and gave herself an extra chakra boost. She heard the ninja's startled cry as they began pushing themselves to catch up with her. She was trailing in the back, as planned. Still smirking she ran faster giving the rogue ninja a run for their money.

A glimmer of sunlight appeared in the corner of her eye. She turned just in time as a large blade swung straight towards her head. Caught off balance, she leapt for a lower branch and landed clumsily. Using her chakra to support her she scanned the treetops until she spotted her attacker. It was a man in his mid twenties with spiky brown hair and piercing blue eyes. A cloth mask covered the bottom half of his face, keeping his features hidden. He wore a loose black tank top with black pants. A large blade, bigger than Kisame's, was propped up against the branch as he watched her casually.

"Hey cutie! Leaving so soon?" he asked tauntingly.

Sakura's emerald eyes narrowed at the man as he watched her casually. His posture was loose and comfortable, almost as if he had faced certain death before. The way he watched her was making the pink haired woman uneasy. This was no ordinary rogue ninja. Their attackers were powerful, as expected. Smirking she pulled on her gloves. This was going to be fun.

-

-

It was midday. Sasuke stared up at the sun unblinkingly, boredom etched across his features. Taking care of breakfast had used up all his energy. Even though his friends were obnoxious as hell, they still managed to handle everything. When he found out that they wouldn't stay over he nearly panicked. Still, Keiko helped him make breakfast and everything turned out alright.

"Otousan!" Keiko's pigtails flew in every direction as she ran through the garden where her father was seated. "Hisoka was practicing his fire jutsu indoors again and set the curtains on fire!" she tattled furiously. She was just like her mother, always demanding justice.

Sasuke didn't even turn around "Did he put it out?"

"…yeah…"

"Good."

Unsatisfied, the small girl marched away with her arms folded. Sasuke smirked. He didn't have time for the children right now. What he really wanted was to go on a mission. He had even sent a special request to the hokage that he lead an anbu mission in the rain or something. The Hokage's stupid response had been:

"You can't do that! Until Sakura gets home, you're Mr. Mom!"

He had punched him out after that. He didn't need this kind of abuse, especially from his best friend. Glaring at a passing cloud he stood up. He guessed it was time to go do something with the children. Maybe he would be merciful and take them to the park. Maybe.

-

-

"Otousan! Hisoka pushed me again!"

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"You asked me to push you! You were on a swing!"

"So? You still pushed me!"

"I think you just want to see me punished."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Twenty seven children at the playground and his had to be the center of attention. The rest of the children and parents watched as though it were some form of entertainment or something. The twins continued bickering, oblivious to the crowd that they were drawing. He merely sat down on a bench holding Yasuo and praying that they wouldn't run up to him. It was too late. Little Keiko was running over to him.

"OTOUSAN!"

He cleared his ears. She definitely had the lungs of her mother.

"OTOUSAN!"

"What?"

She pointed, "He pushed me."

Sasuke poked her forehead tiredly. He used to think that anbu missions were tiring… "Now I'm pushing you. Go play."

She pouted before running off. By now, several parents were staring at Sasuke disapprovingly. An elderly woman leaned over toward her friend "Young parents these days, they never discipline their children."

He shut his eyes and continued rocking Yasuo gently, similar to the way Sakura did. A woman walked by and 'tsked' knowingly. He snapped his head up and glared, activating his sharingan at the same time. The woman ran off quickly. Sasuke smirked. He just loved doing that. One day he would teach it to his son. Speaking of the devil…

He looked over to see Hisoka sending another child flying. Sasuke jumped up.

"What are you doing?" he grabbed his son by the shoulder with his free hand. The boy looked back up at his father, his eyes full of confidence.

"They were bullying Keiko."

Sasuke turned to see his daughter lying in the sandbox crying. Her face was bruised. He passed Yasuo to Hisoka and raced over to his crying child. Seeing her cry broke his heart. He would never say this aloud but she reminded him so much of her mother it drove him crazy sometimes. Holding his child to him he glared at the said bully who Hisoka was currently intimidating.

"If you ever touch my sister again…" the young Uchiha hissed his eyes wide "I'll kill you!"

By now the local parents were openly voicing their disapproval of the Uchiha family. It was then that Sasuke decided it was time to leave the playground… and never come back. As he led his family off he huffed out a loud sigh.

"I hope your Mother's having a better time than we are."

-

-

"Damn!"

Sakura slammed her bleeding fist into a nearby tree. The stupid ninja ran away before she could kill him. She had to admit, he was tough. She closed her eyes and began slowly healing her wounds. Some of those wounds could've been fatal if she weren't a medical ninja. He was definitely a worthy opponent. She had a feeling that this was not the last time she'd see him.

"Sakura-san!" her team of medics raced towards her "Are you alright?" one asked.

Sakura smiled and nodded her head slowly. She couldn't let them know that her wounds were hurting like hell, or that she could barely stand. The one thing she learned as a medic was to never let the world know you're wounded.

"Do you need help?" a female asked as she slowly approached her. Sakura held up her hands defensively.

"I'm fine! Honest!"

They looked at her strangely but nodded anyway. Sakura heaved a sigh of relief "I hope Sasuke's having a better time than I am!"

-

-

"Otousan… I don't think that's how you're supposed to cook rice." Keiko commented as Sasuke blew another fireball at the pot.

He glanced down at the little girl who was standing on her tip toes, staring at the blackened pot. "This is how I cook rice. Aren't you supposed to be watching Yasuo?"

She shook her head "He's sleeping."

"Go play with Hisoka."

"He's training."

"Go play with your dolls."

"My dolls are sleeping."

"Oh for Kami's sake…"

-

-

Akimichi Choji was in a good mood. He had been given a week's relief due to his injuries on a recent mission along with a ticket for all you can eat ramen. He was definitely in a good mood. He smiled as he walked past the Uchiha manor which was strangely still.

"I guess Sakura's still on that mission." He mused. Now, normally he would just stroll on by but at that moment he saw a fireball which was followed by the smell of rice cooking.

He sniffed the air appreciatively, a plan slowly forming in his mind. Maybe he should just stop by and see how everyone's doing. If they invite him to dinner, well…

In a moment's time he was standing at the door knocking heartily. He took a step back and waited… and waited… and for a change of pace he waited some more.

"Where are they?" he knocked again, this time much louder.

The door swung open. "Hello." Hisoka said between breaths. He was sweating, obviously from overexerting himself during training…again.

"Hi!" Choji smiled "I just came by to see how you guys are doing! Can I come in?"

Hisoka swung the door a little wider, allowing the chubby man in. He watched with a raised eyebrow as the older male sniffed the air. He shook his head and smirked "The kitchen's that way."

"Thanks!"

He continued to smirk. Sasuke would probably lose his mind by now. If there was one thing his father hated it was unexpected guests. Hisoka then decided to follow the chubby man into the kitchen. He could always use a little entertainment.

Sasuke was death glaring a pot of rice. Hisoka rolled his eyes.

"That's right, show that rice who's boss. Itsure looks scared now."

Sasuke's death glared fixated itself on his son. "Shut up."

The boy shrugged carelessly as Choji entered the kitchen. The older man gasped at the sight of the rice. "Food should never be treated like this!" he declared, earning a glare from the Uchiha. Ignoring Sasuke's glare, Choji shoved past and began moving around the kitchen like a mini whirlwind. His speed and tenacity surprised both Uchihas so much that they backed up and gave him his space.

The Akimichi pulled out various seasonings and began adding them carefully before turning up the heat and stirring gently. Sasuke and Hisoka shared a look before looking back up the heavy set man.

Sasuke decided to break the silence "Choji?"

"SILENCE!" Choji roared, causing both Uchiha to jump. They decided to just let him do his thing and creep out the kitchen.

-

-

After eating a strangely delicious meal with Akimichi Choji, Sasuke was in an unnaturally good mood. His mood dissipated when his three children surrounded him with Yasuo lugging a large children's book.

He stared down at the three who surrounded his seat on the couch. Keiko, who looked way too much like her mother began batting her large, emerald, eyes innocently. Hisoka tried to look indifferent but couldn't keep the eager look out of his eyes, and Yasuo nibbled on the corner of the book.

"What is this?" Sasuke sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Okasan always reads us a story."

He raised an eyebrow at Hisoka who nodded his head in confirmation. A story. Great. How the hell was he supposed to handle this one? Changing diapers was bad enough. He glanced down at the title which read 'Mizuki-chan and the Magic Goat.'

His hand slid down to his chin. "Can't you read it yourselves?"

Keiko shook her head smartly. Hisoka shrugged. Yasuo burped. Sasuke slammed his forehead on his desk.

-

-

It was that time of the week again. The time of the week when Hinata went to visit family, leaving Naruto to take care of Nina. Not that he minded or anything… it was just a little troublesome handling a three and a half year old and the entire village.

Still, once all his 'duties' were done he decided to drop in on the Uchiha family and see how Sasuke's doing. Well, more like laugh at Sasuke's misery. It was all the same to him.

Sakura had given him a key two years ago so he managed to get in easily with Nina sneaking behind him. They crept into the living room and heard a strange sound. Sasuke was saying something weird in a squeaky voice…

"Okasan says never to talk to strangers." His voice suddenly changed to a 'sheepy' one. "Not even magic goats?"

Naruto couldn't hold it anymore. He fell from behind the couch laughing. Sasuke snapped the book shut and began beating his best friend over the head with it. Nina ran to protect her father and Hisoka grinned in grim satisfaction. Life was good.

-

-

The children were asleep and Naruto had limped home. Sasuke let out his held breath and smirked in satisfaction. Finally, some peace and quiet. He crept past his children's rooms into his own bedroom. He stood in front of the balcony window and gazed out at the sky. It was a cool cloudy night. The perfect kind for nighttime retrieval missions. No. Sasuke would not think about missions while his family needed him.

Speaking of missions, he wondered how Sakura was doing. His smirk turned into a small frown. It was no lie that he missed his wife's cheerful presence. It was usually she who kept things neat and in order, soothing tempers and brightening days with her cheerful smile. He wouldn't think about that either. Too late, his mind filled with visions of pink hair, green eyes, and cheerful smiles… He folded his arms and leaned against the window frame. Life sure was strange without her.

Years ago he would scoff at the idea of missing the loudmouth. Sasuke shook his head, things changed. She was such a strange being, always driving him crazy yet whenever he was away from her he instantly longed for her once more. He smiled as he thought of her crazy antics.

_Flashback_

_Sakura narrowed her eyes at the sound of the enemy's approach. From her vantage point behind the couch, she motioned for Sasuke to move in. He rolled his eyes in exasperation before rising from behind a chair._

"_What are you doing?" she hissed at him angrily "He'll see you!"_

_Sasuke shrugged. "So?"_

_The sound grew louder. "He's coming!" her eyes widened in panic as her professional expression changed to one of terror. Sasuke rolled his eyes again. It was then that the enemy cut around the corner and came face to face with a scared Uchiha Sakura._

"_AAAHHHHH! CICADA!" she knocked over the couch, a lamp, Naruto, a bookshelf, and generally anything that stood in her way. Sasuke watched with an amused expression as she fled from her angry pursuer._

"_That's what you get for swatting at him. I told you I'd get him." He scolded._

_Sakura ran outdoors with the Cicada still in pursuit. Sasuke knelt down to help the stunned Hokage to his feet. _

"_Ouch." The blonde groaned as he rose to his feet. He dusted off his pants as he squinted in the direction that the pink haired woman ran off. "Geez… you'd think after handling the Akatsuki that she wouldn't be afraid of anything!" he huffed._

_The Uchiha nodded his head. He had to agree, it was rather odd. The door swung open as a tired looking Sakura stumbled in, half-laughing and half-panting._

"_Ha! I…ha ha…finally beat him…hahaha!" her eyes were crazed as she made her way toward them._

_Naruto raised doubting eyebrow "Are you sure she's alright?"_

"_Nope."_

_The blonde was about to say something when he heard a loud buzzing noise. Sakura's body stiffened "He's back!" she screamed as the insect came flying straight toward her. "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" she ran Naruto over again._

_Sasuke slapped his forehead as the rest of the furniture got ruined. He silently thanked Kami that Ino was babysitting the children. He'd hate for them to see their mother in such a disgraceful state. He glanced down at his twitching friend and sighed, "Come on… I guess it's time to tell her that it's remote controlled." He glanced towards the bushes where Kiba and Tenten gave him a thumbs up._

_End Flashback_

"Damn it woman!" Sasuke ground out through gritted teeth. He gripped the corner of the wall painfully and watched with grim satisfaction as cracks began appearing. "You'd better come home soon or I'll-"

"OTOUSAN! YASUO MADE A STINKY!"

Sasuke leaned his forehead against the window frame "-go insane."

-

-

**End Chapter**

What took me so long? Family issues, new job, business, siblings going to college, etc. Ooh did anyone see the USC Lady Gamecocks vs. Tennesee ? If you saw a clip of that game or heard about it, just know that I was there in the stands cheering for the Gamecocks. GOOO GAMECOCKS! WOOT! …even though we did lose 71 to 44 -sighs in depression-

Okay besides the game, I have been busy and I really apologize. On the plus side I did think of several extra stories including an AU SasuSaku which will rock your socks. I love the idea and can't wait to get working on it. I'll give you more info later.

**Okay today's question is totally hard. Itachi or Sasuke? I had this one on my mind for a long time.**

**Please review! Pretty please? –puppy dog pout- **


	5. Chapter 5

Guess who's back? Not me. I'm just here to fill in space. Either who I do apologize for taking so danged long to update. You'd think I was the busiest person in the world. Besides family issues, trying to get my license, my Grandma moving in, my brother joining the army, intense piano training, my cat gaining weight, tight money issues, and buying new manga… no I am not that busy at all. Okay the manga thing was totally my fault. That stupid volume of Fruits Basket was practically screaming my name, I HAD TO BUY IT! sobs I'm sorry…

**Disclaimer: Me? Owning Naruto? Hell yeah.**

**-**

**-**

The day that Naruto came to the door with a message for Sasuke was the happiest day in the Uchiha's life. He read the message over and over again just to make sure it was real. It was a request for him to go on a C rank mission. He was so happy he would've gone even if it were an Academy Training mission.

Then, just when he couldn't get any happier… another message came. This one was enlisting Keiko and Hisoka in pre-school. He sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned his forehead against his desk. He remembered pre-school days… those were the days when he impressed the rest of the class with his superior ninja skills and earned his first fan girls. Well, he never said that all his memories were happy. Still, the kids would be gone and he would be on a mission. Life couldn't get any better than this!

"Otousan? Is something wrong?" Sasuke lifted his head to see a worried looking Keiko standing in the doorway. She held her stuffed bunny in one hand and twirled with a lock of hair with the other.

Sasuke shook his head slowly, a grin slowly forming. "No. Nothings wrong. Why do you ask?"

She pointed, "You're grinning."

"Am I?" Stupid grin. Go away! He shook his head several times until the grin disappeared and was replaced with a scowl. Much better.

"Keiko, call Hisoka. I need to talk with both of you."

Her large emerald eyes widened. "Are we in trouble?" she asked nervously.

The stupid grin was slowly reforming. "No…not at all… quite the opposite actually."

Baffled, the young Uchiha skipped off to go call her twin. After a few moments both appeared in the doorway with equally confused faces. Sasuke rose to his feet and slowly approached the twins.

"I have good news." He said, trying to keep the joy out of his voice. Think depressing thoughts…. Think Itachi… think Sakura kissing Naruto… that instantly wiped the grin off his face.

"What?" Hisoka asked impatiently "I was in the middle of training before you called."

Sasuke chose to ignore the little smart aleck's remark. "You two will be entering into preschool. I trust that with your skill you two will be attending the Ninja Academy in no time."

Hisoka raised an eyebrow, trying to keep a smug look on his face. It wasn't working. He turned to his beaming sister.

"Really?" she squealed, clapping her hands "Will Sachiko-chan be there?"

Sasuke nodded "Yes."

"Will Nina-chan be there?"

"Yes." He was starting to grow impatient.

"Will Ryoichi-kun be there?"

"Yes…" he said through gritted teeth.

"Will-"

"I SAID YES!" he bellowed. Both children stared at him with enormous eyes. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "…sorry…"

Yasuo began crying from the back room. The children ran off to tend to their brother leaving Sasuke by himself. He seated himself back down with a satisfied smirk. Things were finally starting to look up.

-

-

"Sakura-sama? We need help in the intensive care-" the nervous medic blabbed on. Sakura bit her lip in frustration as she turned to face the young woman. It was her first day in the Cloud village and they already had her working like a dog. She barely got to eat, sleep, or shower before they dragged her out and put her to work.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't I supposed to help with a training program?" Sakura asked impatiently.

The woman blinked her large eyes up at the superior medic. She nervously pushed her glasses back up to the bridge of her nose. "Y-yes…"

"Then why the hell am I healing all of your patients?"

"B-because…" the woman was cowering under Sakura's fierce glare. She definitely had to be taking lessons from Sasuke. "We-we need the help. P-please Sakura-sama…."

Sakura folded her arms doubtfully. She glanced down. Instead of wearing her usual outfit, she was required to wear a weird aqua green medic uniform which signified that she was chief medic. The Cloud certainly had different ways from the leaf.

This was getting ridiculous. She cut the woman off with a wave of the hand and began walking off. The stupid medic couldn't take the hint. The woman matched her brisk dogtrot.

"Where are you going?" she asked frantically

Sakura sighed. "Away from here."

"But we need you!"

"Listen," Sakura whirled on the woman suddenly, scaring the crap out of her. "I'm hungry. Tell your Kage that I am not going to be worked like a dog, this was not part of the agreement."

"B-but!" another medic sputtered.

"I'M GETTING RAMEN!" Sakura stormed out the room leaving a shocked team of medics.

-

-

"Bye Otousan!" the twins chorused before turning and running down the road towards the preschool. Sasuke gave a brief wave as they slowly faded out of view. As soon as they disappeared from sight he slammed the door and let out a relieved sigh. Two down, one to go. Almost instantly there was a knock at the door. He swung it open.

"Hi Sasuke-kun!" Ino chirped cheerfully. Sasuke groaned, another morning person…

"Where's Yasuo-chan?" she asked, bulldozing past the Uchiha. She caught sight of the crib in the corner and ran towards it. She leaned over and began tickling the small infant "Goochy goochy goo!"

Sasuke felt like he was going to vomit. What was with women and making disgusting noises around infants? "Ok. See you later."

Ino glared at him but picked up the small child and the baby-bag. Still glaring, she walked out the house and shut the door.

"Finally."

He raced upstairs to get changed. It was a relief to him, to take off his everyday clothes and change into his anbu uniform. He frowned at his sword. The blade was looking a little dull. He'd take it to a blacksmith later.

Once finished changing, he went downstairs and stood in the open doorway. Sasuke slipped on his mask and grinned from behind it. "Showtime."

-

-

"This isn't real." Sasuke groaned from his position on the top branch of a tree.

"Unfortunately, it is…" Shinji, a fellow anbu complained. He was standing a few branches below the Uchiha with his arms folded angrily. Unlike Sasuke, he was dressed in his everyday clothes, making Sasuke feel a little ridiculous.

"I had hoped that this mission would contain actual fighting." Sasuke complained.

"Naruto may be the 6th Hokage, but that doesn't change him from being a moron."

"True."

"Still…."

Sasuke folded his arms and brooded in his little corner of the tree. Shinji's radio suddenly went off "Silver 1, this is Fang 2 do you copy?"

"Silver 1 to Fang 2, I hear ya loud and clear. Have you caught sight of our target yet? Red 3 is looking angry." Shinji responded while glancing warily at Sasuke who looked angry enough to rip the tree out of the ground.

"Fang 2 to Silver 1, target is spotted and moving south at an approximate 4 mph." Kiba's voice crackled once more.

Sasuke pulled out his and began speaking angrily. "Red 3 to Fang 2, the Hokage is a retard."

"I hear ya."

Shinji smiled understandingly, he was about ready to kill the Hokage himself. "Silver 1 to Fang 2, is that all?"

"Fang 2 to Silver 1, I think so. Contact Bug 4 immediately for further details."

Shinji nodded, even though Kiba couldn't see him. "Silver 1 to Bug 4, do you have the target covered?"

"Bug 4 to Silver 1, target is spotted and Fang 2 and myself have it covered. You and Red 3 are free to go."

"Roger."

Shinji flipped off his radio and turned to Sasuke. "I guess that's it."

Sasuke ground his teeth together as he marched off, his bruised pride smarting. This was an absolute waste of time. His first mission in almost a week and it was to locate the Ramen supply wagon and inform the Hokage when it reached the village. He would kill Naruto later.

-

-

Sakura slurped down ramen at a pace that would put Naruto to shame. She was beyond mad she was pissed. The stupid Cloud village was taking advantage of their agreement and forcing her to work harder than planned. She rubbed her sore left wrist before finishing her bowl. She hated to say it, but Cloud ramen did not compare to Ichiraku.

Thinking of Ichiraku made her think of home. She wondered how Sasuke and the children were doing. She was starting to wish that she had never agreed to this stupid mission. Someone tapped her shoulder. She turned around to see the Rogue ninja from earlier. Her eyes widened in surprise as her right hand quickly reached for a kunai.

"Easy there, I'm not here to fight." He said calmly. Sakura eyed him warily as he seated himself beside her and ordered Miso Ramen.

"Then what are you here for?" she asked with equal coolness, her grip on the kunai never loosening.

She could only assume that he was smiling behind his mask, since his eyes crinkled in a friendly manner. "Ramen. What else?"

"You attacked me earlier… why?" her gaze never left him as she waited for an attack.

He shrugged "You were in my turf."

"Oh really?"

"What, you don't believe me?" he asked, sounding offended.

Sakura glared. "It's hard to believe someone that made an attempt on my life earlier. You're a rogue ninja, I have every right to take you to prison."

The man surprised her by throwing back his head and laughing. Sakura's glare intensified. What right did this man have to laugh at her like this? Didn't he know who she was? She however, forced herself to calm down and patiently waited for him to finish his cackling.

"I guess you could." He said complacently "If you were in the Rain village."

"So you're a Rain ninja, eh?" Sakura sipped on her water, her emerald eyes fixated on his face. She inwardly wondered why she was even talking to this man.

"I used to be one of the best." He boasted "I even challenged Momochi Zabuza, back when he was alive. But I doubt that you heard of him. He was one of the Mist's finest rogues."

"I know who Zabuza is!" Sakura snapped irately "I was there when he died by Gato's hands. My sensei and teammates fought him."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Really? So what did you do the whole time."

"I-I … I defended our charge of course. There wasn't much I could do." She gasped. She had no idea why she was actually talking to this man. Something about his mannerisms made her feel instantly at ease with him, even though he did attack her only a day or two ago.

The man turned towards the chef who passed him a bowl of ramen. Sakura watched with slight interest as he pulled down his mask. She gasped slightly; if she weren't married she would've definitely blushed. The man was stunningly handsome. He smiled a perfect smile at her. She turned away but not before noticing a scar on his left cheek.

"Nice scar." She commented blithely.

"Thanks. Courtesy of Zabuza." He separated his chopsticks and began slurping down his noodles.

"Either you're really old or you were a child prodigy."

"Child prodigy." He shrugged carelessly "I was only sixteen when I challenged him, and that was only a few weeks before he died."

Sakura mentally calculated. That would make this strange ninja 28 years old. She glanced at him as he continued slurping down his noodles. Who was he? Why on earth was she talking to him?

"My name is Sakata Kyo."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, trying to hide her surprise. "What you're a mind reader too?"

He grinned "Something like that. Anyway, I'm sorry for attacking you earlier. Boss's orders. Of course, you guys killed the boss so I'm out of a job."

Sakura nodded. She remembered one of the ninja she fought earlier being pretty tough. She handled him easily though. "My bad. What did your boss want with us anyway?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. Not sure I cared either. I just needed the money."

"So why are you here?" she asked carefully.

Kyo shrugged again "I'm hoping someone will give me a job… that and you know I can't resist a pretty face."

Sakura rolled her eyes at him, while trying to hide her oncoming blush. This guy was a strange one alright. She couldn't help but feel curious about him. She felt another tap on her shoulder. _'Now what?'_ She turned around. It was a Cloud Ninja.

"Yes?" she asked, wondering if it were a message from the Kage telling her to get off her lazy ass and work.

The man gulped "It's a message from Konoha… for you."

"Arigato." She took the small scroll from the man and opened it, ignoring Kyo.

_Sakura,_

_In case you come back and wonder where the children are, Keiko and Hisoka have both just started attending pre-school. During school hours I will be sent on various nearby missions, so don't worry. Ino volunteered to take care of Yasuo. I'm a little disturbed though; she keeps on making gross noises around him. Naruto, Hinata, Ino, Neji, and the children all say hi. Tell their Kage that the Cloud better treat you well or else._

_Sasuke._

Sakura's eyes softened as she smiled fondly down at the little scroll. She felt a familiar pang of homesickness. She quickly wiped away any forming tears from her eyes and sighed heavily. She sure missed them…

"What's this?" Kyo tried leaning over to read it but she quickly elbowed him away. He clutched his sore chest "Owww…."

"It's from home." She explained, her eyes never leaving the scroll which held her precious Sasuke-kun's handwriting. So what if she was still a fan girl at heart? She was married to him. She got all the fan girl privileges.

"From your boyfriend?" he asked sullenly, still clutching his sore chest.

She shook her head and smiled "My husband."

"Whoa really!" his stunning blue eyes were wide in shock. "You're married? Are you for real? I came all this way to see you too!" he pouted like a four year old which made Sakura laugh.

"You did not." She laughed.

"Did too!" he whined "And now I find out that you're married! This just ruins everything! Who are you married to anyway?"

She smiled fondly at the paper "His name is Sasuke."

Kyo sat up quickly. "You mean… THE Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sakura glanced up at him. Word of her husband sure spread fast around these parts. She nodded.

"Wow… you landed yourself the last Uchiha… how lucky are you?"

Sakura grinned broadly "Very lucky."

-

-

"-and then I threw the shuriken but it missed and took sensei's wig off instead!" Keiko took a deep breath after she finished her story. Sasuke groaned inwardly. If one day at preschool equals three hours of nonstop chatter…maybe he should hire a nanny.

"How was your day Otousan?" Keiko blinked up at him innocently. He shook his head and turned back to their dinner. Today he decided to go smart and order ramen. He carefully scooped out three separate portions as his daughter continued to get in his way.

"My day was…fine…" he lied, well only mostly. The good news was he had a good excuse to beat the crap out of Naruto. That was the highlight of his day.

Keiko beamed up at her father "I'm glad! I would've hated if you got lonely without us!"

He turned around to hide his oncoming laugh. Hisoka entered the kitchen and eyed his father suspiciously. "Weirdo…" he muttered under his breath.

"Otousan? Are you alright?" Keiko ran up to her father who quickly straightened himself up.

"Never better."

"Will you take us somewhere?" she asked.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow "Why?"

"Becaaauuuussseeeee…." She dragged it out in a childishly cute manner "we're bored. Aren't we Hisoka?" Hisoka absentmindedly nodded his head "See?"

Sasuke set the plates on the table and began eating. Keiko pulled up a seat beside him and stared at him pleadingly. He sighed. The park incident was a disaster. Where could he take them where they could wreak havoc but not cause much trouble? The idea suddenly came to him like a flash.

"Finish your dinner."

The twins stared at him curiously "Why?" they asked in unison.

"Because…" Sasuke said, trying to keep the smirk out of his voice "We're going to visit Uncle Neji." His statement was followed by evil laughter, ominous music, and a crack of thunder in the background. Well… not really… but there might as well have been.

-

-

Neji swung open the door to his house (yes, he now owned his very own house) and gaped in surprise. The whole Uchiha family, minus Sakura, stood there gazing up at him expectantly. Sasuke gave him that arrogant smirk that he absolutely loathed. "Well, are you going to let us in or are you going to stand there looking stupid?"

The Hyuga was preparing to slam the door on them when Ryoichi and Tenten appeared behind him. "Neji what are you doing?" his wife hissed, "Let them in! The boys have been dying to play with Hisoka! Come in!"

Keiko bounded in followed by an indifferent Hisoka and an arrogant Sasuke. She grinned up at 'Aunty Tenten' and gave her a hug which earned an 'Aww' from the older woman. Sasuke grunted a greeting before plopping down on their couch, letting his children do whatever.

"I have an awesome new jutsu." Ryoichi boasted.

"I do too." Hisoka retorted.

"We can activate our kekkei genkai!" Takashi put in, earning an appreciative glance from his older brother.

"The Sharingan is more complex and has more levels of power than the Byakugan. Learning to use an ability like the Sharingan takes more than just a few years, but you wouldn't know that." Hisoka said, sounding very much like his father. Sasuke smirked at Neji from the couch. _'That's my boy'_ he thought proudly.

"Our taijutsu is way better than yours." Ryoichi snapped.

Hisoka glared at both boys levelly "Prove it."

"You're on!"

All three boys ran outside. Tenten sighed wistfully, "Isn't it sweet how well our children get along?"

"Yeah…" Neji grumbled, while still death-glaring Sasuke "Peachy."

"PEACHY!?" Sasuke fell off the couch laughing. Neji's face burned as he attempted to glare at the laughing Uchiha.

Tenten smiled. Even though it was at her husband's expense, it was nice to see Sasuke laughing. He hadn't laughed like that since the time when Sakura tried a perm to get more curl in her hair and ended up with a giant frizzy Afro. She smiled fondly, she remembered that day real well. Sasuke burst out laughing as soon as Sakura entered the house and Sakura ended up wearing a bun until the perm wore out.

Keiko glanced up at Tenten who continued smiling "Aunty Tenten, shouldn't we stop them?" she asked, indicating the two men who were fighting. Well, Neji was fighting while Sasuke was still laughing.

"Nah." Tenten shook her head "Let them have their fun."

Keiko looked towards where the boys ran off to. A large fireball flew past. "Aunty Tenten sure has weird ideas of fun." She mumbled to herself.

-

-

**End Chapter**

Okay, before you throw the torches and pitchforks just know that this chapter was mainly fillerish. I mean, you know how when you break your leg you wait a while to heal and then you try to start walking and it's really difficult? Well that's what things are like right now. I should get back into the swing of things by the next chapter, so I apologize for the suckyness of this chapter.

**Oh, Sasuke won the last question by a landslide. Is it any surprise? I'm sorry but I want my man to not be a sociopath and to not have strange lines under his eyes. Woot woot! Okay the question for today is which character do you like better? Sakura or Hinata? Don't just say Sakura because of fics or anything. I want you to really think about this. VOTE AWAY MY PRETTIES!**

**Please oh please review! It'll make my day! Please? –puppy dog pout-**

**Sasuke: It's not working.**

**Me: Shut up!**


	6. Chapter 6

Hey, see how much I love you guys? I'm even willing to update almost immediately after adding the other chapter. Things are looking up for me, so I'm actually in a really good mood. You can tell because I can't stop talking and grinning.

**Disclaimer: If I were Masashi Kishimoto, I would be rolling in money not making fanfictions. –sighs in depression-**

**-**

**-**

Hyuga Neji let out a long held in sigh. It was about time that the Uchiha family left, it made things a whole lot easier for him. He collapsed his weary body on the sofa alongside with his exhausted looking sons. His usually high maintenance hair was standing up in every other direction, his cheeks were flushed, and his posture was bad enough to make Hiashi flinch.

Tenten hummed as she walked inside the living room. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of her husband's hair. "Neji, did you change your hair?"

He growled something unintelligible under his throat.

"What was that?" she leaned in closer to hear better "I can't really tell what you're saying."

"I said," he glared "we're never inviting them over again!"

She smiled down at him and patted his head in a friendly gesture. "Sure we're not. You're just mad that you didn't get to play with little Keiko-chan."

"No, I hate the Uchiha."

Tenten gasped melodramatically "Neji! Don't say that! They're a wonderful family!"

"I meant Sasuke."

"Oh."

-

-

Uchiha Sakura was in a similar state of distress. She let out a loud breath as she collapsed in a hard wooden hospital chair. She rubbed her sore backside, that wasn't a bright idea.

A young medic with a bob-cut quickly approached her. "Sakura-sama! We need your help in room A61."

Sakura glared up at the medic. Despite her protests the Raikage insisted that she work inside the hospital while they gathered up their best medics for the training project. She had a feeling that she needed to share some words with the man…and maybe her fists.

"What is it now?" she groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Well… there's a man who was attacked by a-" the rest of the words disappeared as Sakura shut her eyes and fell asleep.

-

-

When she woke up she found herself lying on a cot in a small room. The room was dimly lit and there was barely any room for the cot.

"What the-" she rose up unsteadily and headed towards the door. She swung it open to be faced by a whole team of medics. They all looked extremely nervous for some reason. She raised an eyebrow at their strange behavior. Some things were too weird for words.

Almost as if they rehearsed it, the group of medics split in the middle to let the Raikage walk by. He was a young man, probably thirty, with his long short white hair standing in every other direction (like Gaara's) and golden eyes.

Sakura bowed in respect as the man approached her. He was definitely an intimidating figure. He'd probably look better if he smiled every once and a while.

"Haruno Sakura…" he said slowly as he shook his head "I don't know what to do with you."

"Then how about you give me a break?" she suggested. As soon as she caught sight of his disapproving frown she sighed "…or not. Oh yeah, the name's Uchiha." She flashed him her ring.

He shifted his frown from her face to her ring. His eyes slightly narrowed at the offending object. Sakura raised an eyebrow again. Weirdo.

"I thought we made our agreement very clear-"

"Apparently you did not!" Sakura cut in angrily, her patience wearing thin "You said I'd start a medic training program, not run the whole hospital! What do you think you're doing anyway, taking advantage of the agreement like that! I planned to come in here and leave as soon as possible! I don't know if you knew this already, but I have a family that needs me! And I will leave this place if need be!"

The Raikage held his breath for a few seconds before slowly releasing it. "I understand." The way he said it showed otherwise. "However, this is part of the training program. We need your help with the more critical cases before we have our medics experimenting on new jutsu. Do not worry, you'll return to your…family soon enough. Until then, please bear with me. These are difficult times for the Cloud."

Sakura wondered why he had such a hard time saying family. Maybe he didn't like kids. She pushed such thoughts aside and folded her arms doubtfully. "How long do you plan on taking?"

"Three months. Maybe more maybe less."

"Look, I said I have a family! That means a husband and kids plus one on the way! I'm not going to stay here forever!"

He narrowed his golden eyes at her. For a moment there he reminded her of a falcon preparing to dive on its prey. His eyes were making her really uneasy. She shifted her weight to her left foot.

"Very well. I'll see what I can do." He dismissed her with a wave of the hand. As he walked off Sakura bit her lip.

"Jerk."

-

-

Mid-afternoon was probably the most peaceful time of day at the Uchiha state. During that time the children were usually at pre-school and Sasuke was either in his office, training, or on a pointless mission. It seemed that the Hokage was very fond of stupid missions. Even passerby's seemed to notice the quiet of the Uchiha household. It was very disappointing for them. "Well, I guess there's always TV." One man mumbled in disappointment.

Sasuke swung the door open at that second and fixed said man with a glare that could intimidate even the toughest of shinobi. The man quickly ran off, leaving Sasuke to smirk. He definitely needed a new hobby.

Fixing his blade he ran full speed towards the training area. You could never train too much. At least that's what he believed. Training wasn't the same though. With Naruto as Hokage, and Sakura on a mission there were really no challenges for him anymore. He didn't feel like asking the Hyuga, and everyone else was weaker than him, which usually meant that he'd be forced to train alone…again.

Once he reached the training area, he unsheathed his sword and laid it on the ground. Squatting beside he sword he shut his eyes in meditation. _'Relax…'_

Sasuke exhaled slowly allowing his mind to slip into nothingness. Sometimes, this was the best type of training. Just as he was finally clear he suddenly thought of Sakura. His eyes snapped open. Everything was a lot more difficult with Sakura gone.

He glanced skyward where gray clouds slowly gathered. "It looks like rain…or snow." He commented aloud. Usually Sakura would be there to answer such comments. Sasuke shook his head.

He was an Uchiha, a lone wolf; solitude was his way of life…so why did he feel so darned lonely?

Five years of marriage really did a lot to a man. He closed his eyes as he thought of their first years of marriage. Things were really difficult back then. They've been through good times and bad but they always managed to get through them. He covered his face with his hand as he remembered his stupid confession. What had driven him to do something so un-Uchiha-like as that? Maybe it was Naruto's influence…or maybe he was part insane after spending a month or so with Orochimaru.

Thinking of that made him think of that accursed Valentines Day three years ago. He clenched his jaw. Not the greatest of memories. Since when did he turn into a sap?

_Flashback (you know you want one) _

"_Sasuke-kun? Where are we going?" Sakura said softly, her voice holding a slight hint of worry. It wasn't everyday that Sasuke pops up, blindfolds her, and leads her through Konoha by the hands. Not like she minded, it was a very romantic notion. Still, with Sasuke you could never be too sure. "What about the kids?"_

_She jumped a little as Sasuke pressed a finger to her lips. "Stop worrying so much." He said, sounding a little annoyed "Ino said she'd watch Hisoka and Keiko."_

_She huffed out a sigh but continued to follow her husband. He was so confusing sometimes. It was difficult not be intrigued though. It wasn't every day that he did stuff like this. _

"_When will we get there?"_

"_Soon."_

_If she weren't blindfolded she would've given him her newly acquired death glare. She could hear the murmurs of several villagers as they watched the interesting couple walk through Konoha. She could hear Sasuke say something harsh to a couple of the questioners. Sakura smiled and relaxed a little as he led her by the hand. She decided to kill her curiosity and be content with the fact that Sasuke was holding her hand. Everyone knew that he hated public displays of affection, yet here he was holding her hand._

"_Stop smiling like that." He snapped._

"_Like what?"_

"_That!" She quickly erased her dreamy smile and put on a serious expression._

"_Better?" she asked sarcastically._

"_Hn."_

_Sakura noticed that they went off the normal dusty road and were walking on a smooth, stony path. She raised an eyebrow, which proved to be difficult since she was blindfolded and all. "Sasuke?"_

_Another finger covered her lips. She sighed and allowed herself to be led. The ground softened to the familiar texture of grass. This was just too confusing for her. He lifted his hands and rested them on her shoulders, bringing her to a stop._

_Gently, Sasuke removed the blindfold. Sakura blinked several times. They were in a forest. "What the-" _

_Her husband rolled his eyes and pointed towards the secluded lake. The moonlight reflected beautifully off it creating a romantic glow. It wasn't the moon and the lake that excited Sakura; at the lakeside there was a large blanket spread on the ground with a basket beside it. Two candles lit the scene. Sakura squealed in delight._

"_Oh my god! Sasuke! You did this…for me?" she asked breathlessly, her arms wrapped around his waist. Sasuke smirked._

"_Ino helped…" he shrugged trying to keep cool._

_It didn't seem to affect the pink-haired woman. Still smiling, she grabbed his hand and practically dragged him over towards the spread. "It's so romantic…" she sighed._

_Sasuke raised an eyebrow and gave her a helpful grunt. She just smiled as he pulled out their bento boxes. Sakura raised her eyebrows at the semi-heart shaped onigiri. It wasn't exactly perfect but it was the thought that counts. Judging from their look, she could tell that Sasuke took the time to handcraft them._

"_Sasuke-kun?"_

"_Aa?" Sakura popped an onigiri in his mouth. She giggled at his expression. A mad looking Sasuke with an onigiri hanging out of his mouth way too cute. She wished that she had a camera._

_He finished off the onigiri and glared at her "What was that for?"_

_She smiled and shrugged "No reason."_

_They spent the rest of that dinner in a peaceful silence which was only broken by Sakura's occasional exclamations. "You brought champagne? Was it expensive?"_

"_Oh my kami! This is just too much!"_

"_Look! Fireworks!"_

_It was about then that Sasuke decided to silence her with a swift kiss on the lips. Sakura smiled and blushed at him._

_Sasuke, his cheeks a similar shade of pink, gave a cocky smirk. "Happy Valentine's Day."_

_**End Flashback**_

Damned Sakura. She ruined his image. Not only her but the-

"Otousan! Over here!"

-children…

He groaned as his shoulders slumped. He wearily turned around only to be bulldozed by the two hyperactive kids.

"Guess what I did today?" Keiko chirped while sitting Indian-style on his stomach.

"No, guess what I did today!" Hisoka, ever the competitive one, said while shoving his sister aside.

"I asked first!"

"Who cares? Mine is more important!"

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it ISN'T!"

"Yes it is times infinity." Hisoka said with an air of finality. "So there!"

"OTOUSAN!" Keiko shrilled, gaining the attention of anyone within a five mile radius. Sasuke slammed his head back down on the ground. So much for dignity.

-

-

"Lord Raikage? You called?" It had been almost a month since Sakura arrived at the Cloud. The medic program was already started, and she finally felt like she was on top of things. Plus, to top it all she was two months on the way. She touched her stomach. Thankfully, she wasn't gaining weight yet. She figured she had another month with her killer figure before things started showing.

Sakura tip toed into the Raikage's messy office. "Wow," she breathed, "It's almost worse than Naruto's."

The sound of a throat clearing caused her head to snap up. The Raikage was standing in front of his desk and staring at her with a strange intensity in his eyes. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Sakura fiddled with her fingers as she slowly approached the older man.

"What did you want me for?" she asked, decided to get straight to the point. To be honest, the Raikage was creeping her out as of late. He was always staring at her strangely and spoke as though he had no intentions of letting her return to the Leaf village.

He smiled at her, which creeped her out even more. The Raikage was known for almost NEVER smiling. So why was he smiling at her? He was such a creep.

"Please, have a seat." He said in a perfectly polite tone.

Still wary, Sakura uneasily sat down in a chair right by a window. If something happened she would just jump out.

"Raikage-sama…" she murmured politely.

He waved his hand at her carelessly "Please, just call me Daisuke."

Her eyebrows went way up. Since when did he get so informal? Something weird was going on. Until she had proof, she would just have to go along. Taking a deep breath she raised her emerald eyes to him. "Daisuke-san… why did you call me in? I have to finish with my students and have no time to lose."

'Daisuke' walked closer to her and stared down at her as though he were studying something interesting, like a butterfly. "Sakura-san, I find you very attractive." He said bluntly.

Sakura jumped out of her chair and was prepared to fly out the window when he caught her wrist "And I wondered…" he continued, "If you thought the same about me."

"Eh?"

Really. There was nothing else she could say. This guy was competing with Orochimaru for first place in her 'weirdoes I really don't like' list. She stared at him with a confused expression on her face. To be honest, she really never noticed. Sasuke was man enough for her.

"Ah-I… you…" she shook her head in a vain attempt to clear her thoughts "I guess." She said, gaining some of her reserve back. "Why?"

Daisuke smiled again; apparently she had said the right thing. His hand trailed up her arm carelessly and ended on her shoulder, right by her neck. "Good."

He then turned and exited the office, leaving a stunned Sakura behind. She stared at the doorway for five minutes before shaking her head once more. "Raikage or not, next time I'm going to give him one good kick." She mumbled before jumping out the window.

-

-

That evening, Sakura sat at the ramen stand with Kyo. It had become something of a routine. It was very much similar to her weekly meals with Naruto, except for the fact that there was no Sasuke there to make things even more interesting.

"-then he runs his hand up my arm!" she slammed her bowl of ramen down as she finished her explanation.

Kyo raised an eyebrow "Whoa. Weird."

"I know! It's enough to make me want to go back to Konoha right away! Screw war! We can handle it!" she declared, sounding for all the world like a drunken sailor. "Dammit! I want some Sake!" she rose up to go to a nearby bar when she nearly collided with someone. Looking up to see who it was, she collapsed right back on her chair.

"You." She hissed venomously, not even caring who was watching.

The Raikage raised an eyebrow at her behavior but said nothing more. "Hello Sakura-san." He glanced at Kyo with a puzzled expression on his face "Who are you? I have not seen you before."

"Sakata Kyo, full time rogue ninja, currently unemployed." Kyo said carelessly.

Daisuke looked genuinely interested "So you need work?"

"Yeah. I'll take any work you can give me."

"That's good…" the older man nodded slowly "I think I can use someone of your occupation."

Kyo's stunning blue eyes lit up instantly. "Do you mean it?" he asked, forgetting all about Sakura's dilemma.

The pink-haired woman folded her arms angrily. She glared down at her once-was comrade "I thought you were on my side!" she huffed.

"Your side doesn't pay the bills."

"WHAT BILLS?" she exploded.

Kyo just smirked and turned back to the Raikage who was watching Sakura with that strange intensity once more. Sakura turned to see the white haired man smiling at her as though deep in thought.

"You're very amusing when you're mad." He stated, instantly silencing the angry female. She glared heatedly at him.

This only seemed to amuse him more. He shook his head and smiled.

"You." She said, shaking her head in disbelief as she gathered her things. "Are a weirdo."

With that she flounced off leaving both males in silence.

Kyo eyed the older man warily before walking away.

-

-

"Otousan look!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he turned to face the whiny little noise box, I mean child. Keiko threw a large shuriken that almost took his head off.

Pushing himself off the ground he glared heatedly at the child "What the hell was that for?" he demanded, angry that she had caught him off guard like that. He really needed to train more.

The small girl looked close to tears. "I j-just wanted to show O-Otousan my n-new move…" she sniffled as tiny tears appeared in the corner of her eyes.

"Keiko…" he said softly. Inwardly he was freaking out. He never dealt with a crying Keiko before. Usually it was Sakura, or Hisoka who handled the girl. However, right now Hisoka was out 'playing' with the Hyuga boys so he had no idea what to do.

"Don't cry, please don't cry." He half-pleaded. It wasn't working. Suddenly on came the water works.

Bawling, the small girl ran back inside the house. Sasuke bit his tongue as he raced after her. What would Sakura do in a moment like this? He shook his head. He had no clue. He would just have to go off a memory.

He activated his Sharingan and almost immediately located her curled up in a ball behind the couch. She stifled her sniffles as she rocked back and forth. Saddened he took a deep breath and made a great show of searching around the room.

"Where is she?" he asked himself, while lifting up a corner of the rug to search under. "Where is my little Kei-chan?" This time he pretended to search under a chair opposite of the room. "Is she under here?" he looked under a discarded shoe. He smirked to himself as he heard her try to hold back a giggle.

He extended his search, looking in even more ridiculous places such as a flower pot, and under a pillow. Soon he could hear his daughter giggling loudly. He smiled as he heard the distinct sound of her clamping a hand over her mouth.

Using all of his Shinobi training, he snuck towards the couch. "Where is Kei-chan?"

She gasped at the sound of his voice.

"RAWR!" he pounced earning a squeal from the small child. He snatched her mid-air and rolled over so that he landed on his back with her on top of him. Tossing her in the air above him like a cat, he caught her and then rolled her over carefully and began tickling her.

"Stop! Otousan!" she squealed delightedly while kicking her small legs. She laughed harder and harder, even Sasuke felt a smile forming on his lips.

Reluctantly, he released his panting daughter and sat up. She giggled up at him.

"I'm sorry about earlier." He said quickly "Otousan's been through a lot of stress lately."

Still recovering from the laugh-attack, she stared up at him. Her eyes lit up as something clicked. "Is it because you miss Okasan?"

Sasuke turned to her and smiled "Yeah."

-

-

**End Chapter**

Wow, it took me forever! I planned to update on Valentine's Day but my Dad was on Call and had to use my computer all during the weekend. So while you guys were cursing my name, I was biting my nails and waiting for him to leave so that I could update. Believe me, it hurt not to update.

**Okay, I'm pretty sure that Hinata won. It was a close call though. So don't worry my dear Sakura fans (although I voted for Hina-chan.) So the question of the day is… do you like romance mangas like Fruits Basket? Or would you prefer a good action Manga like Bleach or Naruto? (either can have humor)**

**Please review! AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON MY POLL! THAT'S RIGHT! I HAVE ONE ON MY PROFILE! YOUR OPINON MATTERS. Oh yeah, the SasuSaku one with the actor could either be a highschool or with them grown up. I'm gonna shut up in three…two…one….**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello all my adoring fans!!! … -cricket chirps- … I'm talking to myself again aren't I?**

**Thanks for the previous reviews, you guys rock! I just hope that this chapter will end up alright. I'm a little nervous since I came up with something of a plot while I was taking a bath (yes, I am that bad of an authoress) It's a minor plot, nothing too big so here goes nothing… Oh and for those who care, I just remembered that my birthday is coming up. Cool huh? **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto…yet. I got a plan though. I'll marry Kishimoto for a few years, kill him, and have the Naruto empire all to myself! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**-**

**-**

Sasuke stared vacantly out a window. Sakura sure was taking her sweet time with things. It had been officially a month since she left, and life was emptier than ever. Sure he had Naruto and his other friends to entertain him, but no one could handle the children like she did.

He sighed. He really needed to get off his butt and do something. But what? Since he was now a stay at home dad, there wasn't too much he could do. He wished he had a training partner or something.

The sound of the front door slamming shut broke Sasuke out of his silent reverie. "Otousan!" two excited voices chirped in unison.

Sasuke smirked to himself as the children ran towards him. "Hn?"

"Guess what?" they both looked at him eagerly, they were practically bursting with excitement. It was strange seeing Hisoka looking so cheerful.

He raised an eyebrow down at the twins. "You want me to say what, don't you?"

"YES!"

-sigh- "What?"

They slapped a piece of paper down on the table in unison. Both his eyebrows went way up. Slowly flipping it over he read it with an interested look on his face.

_Dear Uchiha-san,_

_I am pleased to announce that Keiko and Hisoka's grades have rapidly improved. They have both moved up to the top of their class. Their grades and aim in shuriken training is so good, I personally requested to the Hokage that they be moved up a grade. Starting tomorrow they will be in year 2 of preschool._

_Yours truly, Kagura-sensei_

Sasuke's jaw dropped. They were already moving up, and only after a few weeks! That was better than he had done at their age. If they kept this up they would be graduating from the Academy at age eight. The twins grinned as soon as they saw his impressed gaze.

He couldn't speak for a few moments. "Th-that's incredible…" he said.

They grinned even harder. "Wait till Okasan finds out!" Keiko hugged her twin excitedly.

"Yeah," Hisoka piped up "she'll be so proud."

They grew excited at the thought of their mother's reaction. She would definitely be proud of them. She'd probably bake them cookies like she used to whenever they did something that made her really happy.

"Okasan…" both murmured softly, their minds filling with visions of their overly cheerful mother.

-

-

Kyo knew something was going on, but he refused to admit it. He observed Sakura's angry glares and Daisuke's petulant stares. Something was up. Sakura seemed to be normal but Daisuke was as cool as a cat, as though he were planning something. Whatever he was planning couldn't be good. He wasn't elected Raikage for nothing.

He decided to take a slow walk throughout the village as he collected his thoughts. The village hidden in the Clouds was a very nice village. It was quieter than Rain and more peaceful. The peace was a tense kind of peace though. It was like they were expecting for anything to happen at any minute.

"Strange…" he murmured as the Raikage walked past him with his golden eyes set on Sakura's figure.

A few girls giggled and pointed as Kyo walked by. Ordinarily he would enjoy the attention, but not right now. Something was going to happen. He could feel it.

-

-

Things were quiet. Too quiet… it had been almost an hour since Hokage-sama played a prank. The last one was on Kiba. He switched the dog-man's cologne for a concoction with the scent of cat-nip. Poor Kiba spent the rest of the day running from a stampede of cats.

Neji rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he slowly pushed the door to the Hokage's office open. "Naruto?" he asked, all formality pushed aside. It was hard to be respectful to one with the IQ of a turnip.

The next moment Neji found himself drenched from head to toe in water. He wiped his eyes calmly and looked around the room. The Hokage jumped from behind his desk with a triumphant grin on his face.

"HA! GOT YOU!" he cackled.

Neji raised an eyebrow as he wrung out his hair. "Yes," he seethed "You did. I think you have way too much free time."

"No not at all! I still have a ton of paperwork, not to mention some kind of peace treaty with the Rain village. I have yet to sign the stupid thing. It's just too troublesome."

The Hyuga fixed him with one of his famous stares. Why did the Leaf village elect an incompetent moron for their Hokage? Did they want to die early?

"Hokage-sama…" Neji said through gritted teeth "I think it's best if you do something besides playing tricks on your shinobi."

"Why?" Naruto blinked "It's more fun than filling out forms. This is worse than going to a pharmacy."

The Hokage blinked again as the older man began slowly counting to ten. "Eh?" he stared at him blankly "Why are you counting? Are we playing Hide and seek?" he asked excitedly "I LOVE Hide and seek!"

Neji opened his eyes in surprise as the Hokage jumped out the window and ran off towards a hiding space. Sighing heavily he seated himself in the Hokage's chair. "I guess that's one way to get things done…" he mused as he begin filling out paperwork.

-

-

Sasuke was not the kind of person who was easily surprised. He was, however, very surprised when Hisoka popped up in his office and deadpanned "Train me."

"What?" Sasuke pushed the pile of scrolls aside and faced his son head on.

"I said, train me."

"Why?"

Hisoka rolled his eyes as if he were speaking to a child. He thought his father was a genius but now he wasn't so sure. "I'm moving to the next class, I need to be stronger. I want to be a great shinobi. Keiko is already receiving training from Hyuga-san."

"She is?" this was new to Sasuke "What kind of training is she receiving?"

"Basic Taijutsu. That seems to be her specialty." Did Sasuke detect a hint of jealousy in his voice?

"So," Sasuke leaned back in his chair with a smirk "What's your specialty then?"

"Sensei tested me. She says it seems to be any ninjutsu that has to do with flames or explosions." The young boy grinned, "I love paper bombs."

That was a surprise to Sasuke. He had always thought that Hisoka would be a good all-around ninja like himself, instead it seemed that taijutsu was not his forte…yet. He would teach the boy and make him powerful. Yes, that's exactly what he'd do.

"Otousan?"

"What?"

"Are you cackling?"

Sasuke stopped laughing "No."

-

-

"He's stalking me!" Sakura whispered furiously as she walked past Kyo. He gave her a curious glance but the curiosity disappeared as he saw that indeed, the Raikage was only a few feet away.

"Weird."

He quickly jogged to catch up with the fast-walking female. She gave him a pitiful look before grabbing him by the arm and dragging him into a tea shop. Kyo would have laughed if his friend weren't so panicked.

"What do I do?" she asked with her eyes still fixated on the Raikage outside "It's like everywhere I go he goes! It's so damn irritating!"

"Tell him to buzz off?" Kyo suggested.

She glared "That won't work. He's the Raikage for Kami's sake! It's not like he's going to suddenly decide to listen to a low-ranking medical ninja like myself."

"I thought you were one of the best." He said.

"That's beside the point!" Sakura stomped her foot in irritation, her emerald eyes flashing dangerously. No one seemed to care. "He's freaking me ooouuuutttt!!!" She whined.

Was it just him or was she sounding very childish? Kyo patted her back awkwardly as she leaned against him in defeat. "Just avoid him."

"That's what I was doing!" she half-yelled half-whispered.

"Well, I don't know what to say…" he shrugged "Maybe you should have a face-to-face with him about this. Either that or write the Hokage or your husband."

Sakura paused to think about it. That would work but… "Naruto-kun is so busy and I don't want to worry Sasuke any more than I need to. It's bad enough that I left him with the children." She sniffled as she thought on how much she missed her husband. Knowing his protective nature, he'd probably storm right over and nail the Raikage with a single shot of his Chidori. That was a pretty nice thought…

Kyo nodded slowly "I know… don't worry, in a month or two you'll be back home with your family."

"Yeah, that's something to look forward to."

-

-

Meeting the Raikage was definitely not something to look forward to. Sakura wondered why he kept on calling her to his office at strange hours. She was in the middle of teaching a special poison removal course when she received a summons. Sighing, she hoisted her medic bag over her shoulder and marched towards the Raikage like a man about to face an executioner. Yeah, it was that bad.

She kicked the door open. "What is it?"

Daisuke got up from his seat behind his desk and smiled at her. "Hello Sakura-chan."

"Chan?" she sputtered, choking over her spit.

"Yes," he said, unaffected by her surprise "I think it leaves a nice level of familiarity between worker and boss, don't you think?"

"You're not my boss." She growled dangerously as she seated herself in the chair by the window. Hey, you could never be too safe when it comes to creeps.

Daisuke gave her an amused glance "You're scared of me." It wasn't a question . It was a statement that needed to be confirmed.

"I'm not scared of anything. I am a little edgy but nothing more." She said in a smooth voice that would surely make her Sasuke proud. She smiled to herself at the thought of Sasuke.

The white haired man shook his head a little and seated himself down on the edge of his desk. He stared down at her for what seemed like an eternity. "You are one amusing kunoichi."

"And you," she retorted, "are a certifiable weirdo."

He did something that surprised her.

He laughed.

Hard.

For nearly five minutes.

Sakura's eye twitched.

"What is so funny?" she demanded, standing up.

He stopped laughing to eye her meaningfully. Something in his look made her blood run cold. "Nothing… it's just that, if you think I'm a weirdo now you'll really find me strange in a few minutes."

Her world went black.

-

-

Hisoka fell to one knee, struggling for breath as his father towered over him with an arrogant smirk on his face. Is that what his own smirk looked like? He wiped some blood off the corner of his lip before glancing up at Sasuke.

"Well?" Sasuke taunted, "Had enough?"

"Not nearly."

Sasuke's smirk disappeared as he knelt beside the small boy. "You're taking this training a little too seriously." He said indicating the burnt trees and his bleeding lip. "You need to rest."

"No." Hisoka shook his head "Not yet. I have to be strong."

The older Uchiha nodded uncertainly. This child sure had a lot of dedication. "Why?" he asked, breaking the boy out of his thoughts "What do you have to become stronger for?"

Hisoka narrowed his eyes at the older man as he collected his thoughts. His muscles felt like they were on fire, and this was only after two days of nearly nonstop training. "For my future," he panted "for Keiko, to show Takashi that I too am a strong shinobi, to become the best, aren't those reasons enough?" he asked, his eyes full of determination.

Sasuke had to admit; this was one tough child that he and Sakura created. He reminded him so much of himself when he was younger, just a little freakier. Sasuke had a good reason to get stronger; his brother killed his clan. Hisoka was becoming stronger just to become the best. It was almost a Naruto-like dream.

"I see. Then get up and attack me again, this time use the new offensive I taught you and try to find a blind spot before using the paper bombs." Both Uchiha's nodded at each other in understanding.

"Ready? Go!"

-

-

Ino rocked baby Yasuo to sleep as Keiko watched with attentive eyes. She was so cute. Ino smiled, she reminded her so much of her best friend. Using her free hand she reached out to tug on one of Keiko's pigtails. The little girl squeaked in protest as she protectively covered her hair.

Kami, how Ino would kill to have hair like that. It was so long, so silky, black with pink highlights, this girl was going to have more suitors than Ino and Sakura combined.

"Yasuo's sleeping." Keiko muttered while still holding onto her pigtail.

Ino glanced down at the baby and smiled. She gently placed him down in the spare cradle just as Sachiko came in. The girl raised an eyebrow at the two.

"What's up?" she asked lazily, reminding her mother very much of her lazy father. Ino's eye twitched.

"You're late."

Sachiko shrugged "Sorry, Uzumaki-san held me up. She wanted me to give you this." She handed her mother a wrapped bento box.

Ino's sapphire eyes lit up "Ooh! Pocky! Just what I wanted! Hinata-chan is the best!"

Keiko waved shyly to the slightly older girl who nodded in return. "Actually, Nara-san…" she averted her emerald eyes up to the blonde woman who was still chattering over the box "I need to ask a favor of you."

The blonde stopped talking to face the small child. Her face was strangely serious. "It depends." she said warily.

"I need you to train me in taijutsu." Keiko stared up at the blonde bravely "You already know that Hisoka and I have moved up…"

Ino did not miss the way her daughter's eyes lit up at the young Uchiha's name. _'Oh no, not again…'_ she groaned inwardly as she thought of her fan girl years.

"…so I need you to teach me all you know about basic taijutsu, you can also help me out with other jutsu if you want. Otousan is training Hisoka." She continued, unaware of Ino's sudden revelation "I want to be trained by only the best, which means I'll ask for tips from the Hokage, Tenten-san, Kiba-san, Neji-san, Okasan, you and your husband. I already spent two days training with Hinata-san. I want to be the most well-rounded shinobi I can be."

The blonde woman was at a loss for words. She honestly wasn't sure what to say to this child who spoke with a strange sense of wisdom. Ino smiled, flattered at being called one of the best "Of course I'll help you. If Sachiko-chan will watch Yasuo-" she eyed Sachiko meaningfully "Then we can get started now on some basic ninjutsu."

"But Aunty Ino!" Keiko whined, suddenly sounding like her mother "I asked for taijutsu training!"

Ino winked "I've talked to Kagura-sensei, she says taijutsu is your forte. You want to be well-rounded right? We'll start on some ninjutsu. Of course we'll do taijutsu best but I will warn you, I'm a tough trainer. You also might want to see Lee-san on some taijutsu tips. His moves are the best I've seen."

Keiko's face lit up "Domo Arigato Ino-san! This is great!" she grabbed her ninja gear awkwardly and clumped outside, grinning the whole way.

Ino glanced down at her daughter out of the corner of her eye. "I wish that you had her dedication." She said huffily.

Sachiko grinned guiltily and shrugged "What can I say? It's too troublesome."

Rolling her eyes, Ino stomped out the door.

-

-

"I'm sending you on a mission. It should take no more than two weeks." Uzumaki Naruto stared straight at his best friend who was looking fairly pissed.

"It'd better not be to search for ramen wagons, or your stupid lost nightcap." Sasuke hissed.

The blonde burst out laughing "Yeah, that was great!" he suddenly went serious "But no, I want you to escort Miki-sama, a noble's daughter, to the Cloud village. There you will stay with her until she is comfortably accommodated or I send the word. This way, you get to have a mission and visit Sakura-chan."

Naruto did not miss the way Sasuke grew excited at the mention of seeing Sakura "Arigato." He said, still in shock "But… I'm training Hisoka, I can't just leave him."

"Neji will take over Hisoka's taijutsu training until you return." Naruto explained as he leaned back into his chair. Kami, this was the best chair ever "This was actually his mission until Miki-sama insulted him. It seems that our female friend has a weakness for attractive men, which is why I sent Neji there until she said he looked like a girl. So you're to escort her, flatter her; flirt with her, whatever until she is comfortably accommodated. Understand?"

"Dobe." Sasuke deadpanned "I'm married."

Naruto shrugged "This is a mission. I didn't say seduce her, just keep her interested in you."

"What about the children?"

"It seems," Naruto began once more. He loved his job. Not only did he get an awesome chair, but he got to talk as long as he wanted while the others were forced to listen to him babble on. "Keiko-chan has been asking around for people to train her. She just asked Hinata for some advice, so I think your children can stay with me and Hinata-chan, that way both get the training they need and Yasuo is taken care of."

Sasuke was about to say something else when Naruto clapped twice. The doors were open to reveal a young woman. She looked to be about twenty years old and had her mint green hair in a pixie cut. Her blue eyes were filled with hearts.

"Hi," she sighed dreamily "I'm Miki. You can call me Miki-chan." She extended her hand towards Sasuke who just raised an eyebrow.

This would definitely be a problem.

-

-

The world was so dark. Then suddenly it filled with light, and was dark again. Sakura groaned groggily. "Where am I?" she asked, sitting up. She felt the surface it was soft and springy. She was on a bed. But where?

"Oh kami."

She yanked her sheets away and was relieved to see that she was still dressed. "Nothing happened." She said to herself as she felt all over herself to make sure she wasn't marked or anything. "Where am I?" she asked again, looking around the tiny room which could only accommodate the bed and a dresser.

"Right where I want you to be." She jerked her head up and came face to face with the Raikage. He smirked down at her and held out a small vial.

"Oh crap."

-

-

End Chapter 

**-gasp!- What are the Raikage's plans? What does the vial have to do with anything? Will Sasuke get to Sakura in time? Will Hisoka and Keiko continue their training? Will Naruto stop being a retard? Tune in next time for… The Things I Do For Love: Chapter Seven –cheese theme music-**

**Seriously, the Raikage is a weirdo. –shrugs- but what can you do. Thanks to all my beautiful reviewers! You guys are seriously the highlight of my day/week/month/year/lifetime/afterlife Thanks so very much!**

**Action**


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, I have no idea why but I feel like updating. So here goes another chapter. Aren't you proud of me? I'm proud of me! –pats self on back-

Real quick, Mari Santoro I'm sorry that I didn't PM you. I'll get to you on Friday (I've been busy.) Oh and thanks to my reviewers whose names I forget. I will list you next chapter. Promise!

**Neji and Tenten: Takahashi and Ryoichi, two boys (Ryoichi is a year older…I think.)**

**Naruto and Hinata: Nina and one on the way**

**Sasuke and Sakura: Hisoka and Keiko (twins. Boy and girl), Yasuo and one on the way.**

**Shikamaru and Ino: Sachiko (a girl)**

**Disclaimer: One day I'm going to lead a movement to disclaim disclaimers. It's a dumb idea. Everyone knows I didn't create Naruto otherwise THIS would be the series. Duh.**

**-**

**-**

Sakura did the first thing that any other woman would have done in that situation. She threw up. All over his nice, white shirt. He gasped, she gasped, and they stared.

And stared.

He made a disgusted face as he stared down at the gross colored mess all over his newly cleaned shirt.

"Ew, gross." Sakura groaned as she tried to clear the nasty taste out of her mouth. "What the HELL is your problem?" she screamed, her mood suddenly changing.

Daisuke raised an eyebrow. "Problem?"

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU DISGUSTING BASTARD!" she punched and kicked blindly, all the while pressing herself as far away from him as possible. "YOU…ICKY MAN! HELP! HEEEELLLLPPPP!!!!"

Smirking, Daisuke took a step back and clapped his hands three times. Immediately five anbu came in and pinned her down, or tried to. He watched with a raised eyebrow as she fought with the rage of a mad bull.

Huffing, Sakura turned to face the Raikage. "Never, EVER mess with a mad pregnant woman!"

He smiled as he slowly approached her. Sakura took a step back, and narrowly missed tripping over the edge of the bed. He continued approaching until she was against the wall. His smile widened as he formed a hand seal and she fell unconscious once more.

"Very well, Sakura-chan." Daisuke practically purred as he scooped her into his arms "Let's play things the hard way."

-

-

"Happy Birthday." Sasuke knelt down as he handed a package to Hisoka and then a slightly smaller one to Keiko "I'm sorry that we couldn't celebrate your fifth birthday together."

The twins stared up at their father solemnly and nodded their heads. They were standing at the Village gates to see him off. Miki wasn't there yet; she was supposed to meet him in thirty minutes. Sasuke didn't want her to know that he had kids so he arranged to meet them prior to the preset date.

"It's okay Otousan." Keiko sniffled. Hisoka was silent as he slowly unwrapped the present. His large dark eyes widened.

"O-otousan!" he gasped.

Keiko glanced at her twin before rapidly unwrapping her own package. She held it up and squinted at it "Arigato Otousan!" she squealed, hugging him with her free arm.

"My very own sword…" Hisoka whispered. It was a shorter blade so that he could use it in his early years. Emblazoned across the blade was the image of a dragon. He smiled down at the weapon.

Keiko, in the meanwhile was cradling a box of scrolls with different basic taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu techniques written in them.

"So you'll have something to study while Hisoka practices." Sasuke explained quietly.

His eyes widened in surprise as the twins leapt at him and attached themselves to his legs in an awkward embrace. Sasuke cleared his throat as he carefully patted their backs as they released him.

"Take care of yourselves and don't drive Hokage-sama too crazy." He said with a smirk

They nodded their heads before running off to join their class. He felt a small smile come to his lips as he watched them disappear. He was proud of his family. Soon they would all be back together.

-

-

It was dark. Again. Sakura was sick of waking up to see nothing but darkness. This Daisuke guy sure was cheesy with his kidnappings. If he knocked her out one more time she would…

Her stomach growled. Opening her eyes wider Sakura could see that she was inside some sort of conference room. The room was just naturally dark. She was tied to a chair in the corner so that she was facing the large circular table. It looked like a place where sleazy business men met up or something.

"Where am I?" she was relieved to find out that she wasn't gagged. Being gagged would've just made her day.

She leaned her head against the back of the chair. "I want some chocolate." She moaned.

"I'll be sure to order some for our wedding."

Sakura's head snapped to the left where Dasiuke was leaning calmly against the wall. The pose reminded her of Sasuke. She felt a pang of homesickness. "You're getting married?" she asked stupidly.

"You are too."

"I am what?" Sakura felt her anger building. She was tired, pregnant, grumpy, her back hurt, her hands were chaffed, and to make things worse she really wanted some chocolate.

Daisuke stalked over toward her chair, reminding her of all the kidnapping's she'd seen in old movies. He had the posture, and evil smile perfect. "Sakura, I love you."

"What? EEEEWWWW!!!" she screamed, rocking from side to side in her chair "NASTY! I'M ALREADY MARRIED YOU NASTY LITTLE-"

He clamped a smooth hand against her lips, instantly silencing her. She glared at him angrily. Daisuke couldn't help but think that she looked sexier than ever.

"Not for long."

"Not for long what? Stop speaking like you're some ancient prophet and speak normal for once! What the hell is going on?" Sakura growled angrily. She could really use some chocolate right now.

Daisuke ran a hand through his spiky white hair as he smiled down at Sakura. She was just too beautiful.

"You and I are getting married, love."

Sakura glared "I heard that part. Why? You can't do this!"

"Ever since I first saw you years ago, I knew that you were my love." He began, pacing in front of her chair, looking the very image of the perfect love struck man. "I wanted you badly. However you only had eyes for the Uchiha, even then."

"No I didn't." she growled defensively. She remembered that mission. It was one of the first missions the newly reunited Team Seven went on. She spent the whole mission death-glaring Sasuke.

He chuckled "So I waited." He continued, acting as though she never said a word "I kept this argument up with the Leaf with the sole purpose of finding you once more. When I discovered that you were the head medical ninja I made plans to have you come here." he paused "I was gravely disappointed to find that you were married to that Uchiha."

"I'm an Uchiha too, bastard!"

Daisuke stroked her cheek lovingly, making her shudder "I never gave up hope on you. During the first few days of your stay here, I was scared. I didn't want to face you less I lose control of myself. You don't know how you hurt me when you mentioned your family."

Sakura vaguely remembered him narrowing his eyes whenever she mentioned Sasuke or her family. This guy was a mega weirdo. She struggled against the bonds but they were tight and the rope was chakra enforced. Damn.

"I continued making plans, and now here you are. A friend of mine's daughter is supposed to arrive in a few days, I made sure that she request for a handsome young man until she came across your husband. He should be here soon."

"Sa-Sasuke's going to be here?" Sakura couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice. She craved him more than she craved chocolate "Are you s-sure?"

Daisuke withdrew his hand from her face. Disappointment was etched on his face "Just as I thought. You still love him."

"No duh."

He surprised her by laughing. Long and hard.

Sakura felt her eye twitching. It was funny how she had the ability to amuse people in the weirdest of circumstances.

He stopped laughing abruptly "Not for long."

The door opened slowly to reveal… "Kyo!" Sakura cried excitedly "Over here! This freak kidnapped me! Now help me out of here!"

Kyo's face was withdrawn as he approached the two, his hand rested carelessly on the hilt of his blade. "You called, Raikage-sama?"

"Hello! Kidnapped girl in the room!" Sakura yelled "Over here! Kyo-kun! Hello?"

Both men ignored her as they stared at each other evenly. Daisuke spoke up first "Your target is on his way. Cut him down but do not harm the female. She is my friend's daughter after all."

"Wait!" Sakura looked between the two in shock. Her jaw dropped "Are you talking about Sasuke?"

Kyo glanced at her for the first time, his eyes more sorrowful than she had ever seen "I'm sorry Sakura."

"Nothing will stand between us." Daisuke purred, stroking her cheek once more. He quickly withdrew as she sunk her teeth into his fingers.

"No! NO! Kyo-kun please don't do this!" she begged, her eyes filling with tears. "My children…my family…"

"I'm really sorry."

With that Kyo was gone. Daisuke turned back to her with a grin "Don't worry, you won't remember a thing. I promise."

He pulled a small scroll out of his back pocket and whipped it open. Performing a hand seal he began murmuring some words before performing even more hand seals "Erase!" 

Her last thought as her world went black was '_Sasuke.'_

-

-

The pace was unbelievable slow. If they went any slower Sasuke feared that they would be going backwards. He glared at the slow-moving female who gave him her idea of a charming smile. It looked more like a grimace to him. His expression probably wasn't much different.

"Hurry up." He grunted

Miki batted her eyelashes at him in pretend innocence. This time he did grimace. No one could do it like Sakura "Why are you in such a hurry, Sasuke-kun?"

He cringed at her calling him Sasuke-kun but tried to ignore it. "No reason. I just want to get this mission over with."

"Why?"

"Because…there's someone I want to meet."

"A girl?"

"Hn." That meant the conversation was over with, even Miki could interpret it clearly after spending a day with him. He was beyond hot but very boring.

"Compliment me on my hair." She said flirtatiously.

"No. Keep moving." Maybe he could kill her and pretend that an enemy ninja did.

Miki stomped her foot childishly and plopped down on the ground 'No. I'm tired. I can't walk any further."

"We only went a mile." He rubbed his forehead, praying for patience. Killing her was suddenly starting to sound really attractive.

"No. I refuse to walk any further."

In any other circumstance Sasuke would've given in to her request, but right now he was in a hurry. He HAD to see Sakura. Something was wrong he could feel it. Sighing loudly Sasuke squatted in front of the green haired female making her blush.

"Look. I'm in a hurry here. Just a little further."

She shook her head stubbornly.

"Please?"

She shook her head once more. Sasuke groaned. He hated to do this but…

"What are you doing?" she cried as she felt herself rising off the ground. "Oomph!" she opened her eyes to see that she was riding piggy-back on Sasuke. "What the-"

Before she could ask any more questions they shot off into the forest like a bullet. The new pace made her bury her face into his back and keep silent. Sasuke smirked and ran up the side of a tree.

"Sakura." He whispered. He would be there soon. He promised.

-

-

Keiko yawned. Things sure were quiet in the Uzumaki household. Hisoka was outside practicing with his sword while Nina bounced around him, and Hinata was making dinner.

Pulling her long hair into a ponytail, Keiko walked across the large room towards Yasuo's cradle where he slept peacefully, his dark brown hair sticking in every direction. She smiled fondly at her younger brother. He was so cute when he was sleeping.

She ran out the room, down the hall, and out the door. She came face to face with a blinking Uzumaki Nina.

"Hi Kei-chan! Happy late birthday!" she chirped, smiling brightly.

"You already said that yesterday." Keiko pointed out to her hyperactive friend.

Nina paused to think for a moment "I did, didn't I? Well happy birthday again!"

Hisoka, who was panting heavily, placed his sword on the ground and sat down beside it. Training was a lot harder than he thought it would be. He had been taking some pointers from Kotetsu, who apparently had some experience in the sword-area. Ever since, he had been practicing his stance and an offensive swing that he taught him.

"Keiko. What are you doing out here?" he asked "Shouldn't you be practicing your jutsu?"

The brunette/pinkette shook her head promptly "I'm through for today. Besides, it was boring out here."

"It won't be boring for long!" Nina piped up "My cousins are coming over today!"

Hisoka's eyes darkened even more "You mean… Takahashi and Ryoichi?"

"Uh huh!"

He gave a feral grin "Perfect."

Keiko sighed, "Here we go again."

- 

-

"My taijutsu is stronger than yours."

"Oh yeah? Well our shuriken are bigger."

"Really? Well my kunai are shinier."

"My-"

Keiko rolled her eyes as the three boys bickered once more. She glanced over at Nina who was seated on the grass, sucking on a Popsicle.

"My Popsicle is lemony!" she cried delightedly.

The whole group stared at her for five seconds before turning back to the argument.

"My sandals are newer."

"Our jutsu is newer."

"Liar!"

"You're a liar!"

"Am not!"

Keiko sighed and seated herself beside Nina who watched the whole fight with a bored expression. The darker haired female raised an eyebrow.

"Nina-chan? Aren't you worried about them?" she asked, staring at her friend with a puzzled expression on her face.

Nina shook her head.

The Uchiha sighed, "Okay."

A few minutes later, Takashi gave a small cry of pain as a shuriken nicked his arm.

"He sounds like he's in pain." Keiko said, hoping to draw out some emotion from the boy's cousin.

Nina shrugged "'Otousan screams louder than that, and he's never hurt."

"Well who's hurting your Otousan?"

"Okasan."

Keiko stared at her for a second before scooting a few inches away. You could never be too careful with a child from such a violent family.

-

-

Hinata gasped. She had just come out the house with a plate of cookies, expecting to see the children quietly playing or pressing flowers. Instead a far more violent sight greeted her.

Keiko was hiding behind her hands. Nina sucked a Popsicle. Ryoichi was punching Hisoka who had Takashi pinned down in a deadly hold, and Takashi's arm was bleeding.

"Stop it! All of you!" Hinata yanked Ryoichi off Hisoka, sending the boy right into a tree.

"I think he was safer before your Okasan came out." Keiko whispered. Nina nodded while still sucking.

Hinata finished dispatching the rest of the boys and had them lined up in front of her like sheepish soldiers. Hisoka studied the ground with a strange intensity as the two Hyuga boys met their 'Aunty Hinata's' steady gaze.

"We should get out." Nina said, starting a conversation for the first time since Keiko went outside. The Uchiha girl nodded.

"Hinata-san looks mad."

Nina grinned boyishly "She is. That's why we should get out. We can use my new jutsu."

"Jutsu?"

Before another word could be spoken, Nina formed a seal "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" she stage-whispered, trying to avoid her mother's stern gaze.

There was a small burst of smoke, in which Keiko couldn't see a thing. Before she could say anything she felt a hand clamp down on her wrist "Let's run while we still can!" Nina whispered in her ear before dragging her off.

They were halfway to the door when they ran straight into Hinata. She glared down at Nina who played with her fingers sheepishly "Hi Okasan!" she said brightly.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hinata demanded, her stutter gone whenever dealing with children.

"Nowhere. This isn't us you're seeing these are shadow clones. Now let us have some candy while you punish the real us."

Keiko raised an eyebrow. That was the most unconvincing piece of garbage…

"Nina…" Hinata sighed, sounding as though she had heard this kind of story a million times before. The truth was, Nina lied about as well as her father. "So you're shadow clones huh?" her tone instantly changed.

Nina and Keiko exchanged a brief glance "Uh huh!"

"So…I guess the real you are wavy and deflated then."

"What do you me-" they turned to see Nina's 'shadow clones' which looked like deflated balloons.

Keiko slapped her forehead.

"Inside." Hinata snapped "Now."

-

-

The world was blurry with strange shapes and colors. She blinked her eyes once, twice as her vision slowly adjusted to the sudden rays of light. Everything was so loud. Kami, her head was pounding.

"Did it work?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

"Yes. She's waking up even now."

Who was waking up? Maybe they were talking about her. She opened her eyes a little wider to see a handsome man with spiky snow white hair and golden eyes. He smiled charmingly down at her.

"Good morning Sakura-chan. Did you sleep well?"

Sakura. Was that her name? She shifted a little on the comfortable pillows. "Where am I?"

"Don't you remember? You're at home, with me."

"Who are you?"

The man's smile broadened as he gently stroked her hair. "Don't you remember me?"

She shook her head slowly, the very motion setting off a very unpleasant pounding in her eardrums.

"My name is Daisuke, and I'm your fiancé."

Fiancé?

-

-

**Well that's it. Yeah I know, it's not really that impressive of a chapter but it'll have to do. I apologize for the suckiness and the awful plot twist but I really wanted to update, and I figured I'd give you all a chapter in celebration of this special day. Today, March 6****th**** is my birthday! –sings happy birthday-**

**I realize that I forgot to post a question the other chapter, and I do apologize. So today's question is… Sasuke or Neji? Ooh…tough I know. Don't answer just because of let's say a story, but whose character do you like better? Who's hotter? Who has better hair –dramatic music-**

**Don't forget to review! I'd like a lot of reviews for my birthday –hint hint- Oh and please vote on my poll! Please? It's the poll on my homepage. You can't miss it.**


	9. Chapter 9

I was going to wait till Saturday to update, but I figured I should do it while I have free time. I am very busy right now, but hopefully I will be free soon. Oh something awesome happened today! One of my favorite authors reviewed my story and said she loved it! I'm so happy! Her profile thingy is dancingthefoxxchalk . So please do check out her fic 'I'd rather die' which is also on my fav. List. It's a really funny, insane, great SasuSaku AU fic and I LOOOOVVVVEEEE It to pieces! So please check it out!

Brief warning. This fic will not be as long as it's predecessor. It'll probably end around chapter 12 or 13. Just warning you. –shrugs-

Oh and someone commented on Nina being like happy in one chapter and in the other she's quiet. Well, I based her off a kid I know who's kinda hyperactive, but notice that when she eats sweets she is QUIET! Just saying. I love my reviewers!

**Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. Neji however is a completely different matter.**

**-**

**-**

"Fiancé?" she asked slowly as she straightened up. Sitting straight was a difficult task for her.

Daisuke smiled fondly at her and gently held her hand "Of course love. We've been together for two years now. Our wedding is in a few days."

"Wedding?"

His grin grew "Yes, and soon you and I will be together…forever."

Somehow the word 'forever' held an ominous ring to it. Sakura was too tired to focus though. She collapsed back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling. How come she didn't remember anything?

-

-

It was wet, dark, and cold inside the small shelter. Sasuke couldn't have been any more miserable if he tried. With his arms folded, he huddled against the corner of the cave. He was getting as far away from Miki as he could. This female was like a fan girl on speed.

"Sasuke-kun." She crooned for the fiftieth time. He fought to keep his Sharingan deactivated.

He didn't even respond with a grunt. He knew how disastrous that could end up.

"You know," she continued, unfazed by his silence "we're all alone in this cave."

'_Yes I know, which is why I want to get the hell out of here.'_ Sasuke thought grumpily. Of all the missions he received, this had been one of the worst. He really couldn't wait for the rain storm to let out.

"Let's do something…fun." She gave her idea of a seductive glare which made his stomach churn.

"Hell no."

Her eyes lit up. Finally, a response! Although not the one she anticipated… "Why not?" Miki asked as she scooted closer to him.

His eye began twitching like mad. Every instinct shouted for him to kill her and just head home. Then if he killed her, he would ruin his chance to visit Sakura. Decisions, decisions…

"I don't want to." That excuse sounded lame, event to Sasuke's ears. He watched as she gave a disappointed look.

She continued scooting closer until her knees were touching his. Her eyes lit up at the sight of him clenching and unclenching his fist. Taking it for the wrong reason, she leaned forward until her face was only inches away from his "Are you so sure?"

"Yes." He glared and scooted closer to the wall, which was virtually impossible. Where was Sakura when he needed her? Usually at moments like this she would burst through and beat the girl to a bloody pulp, labeling his mission as a failure. He sighed when he realized how much he could use her right now.

Miki once again mistook his sigh "We have an hour." She whispered.

Sasuke gave another sigh, this one more agitated than the last. He reached his hand out and ran it through her hair.

Her eyes widened a little as she relaxed.

Suddenly everything went black.

Sasuke smirked down at the unconscious female "Works every time." he muttered as he pushed her limp body over to the opposite corner of the cave. Feeling better, he opened his pack and ate a dried energy bar. For some reason he felt like whistling.

Smiling to himself, he settled comfortably against a softer curve of the wall and let his eyelids droop. Time for some rest.

-

-

"I'VE GOT IT!"

"Got what? A blueberry sized brain?"

"NO I HAD AN IDEA!"

"Naruto-kun, we're supposed t-to be addressing th-the subject of the children."

"BUT MY IDEA IS BETTER!"

"Tch."

"Stop yelling."

Hinata rubbed her temples. What was at first a quick trip to the Hokage's office turned into a battlefield. Somehow, any meeting between their families ended up that way. She watched as her husband flailed his arms in a desperate attempt to catch everyone's attention. Neji stood beside the Hokage with a look of contempt on his face. Nina and Keiko were trying to sneak out, Hisoka took the place of his father by supplying helpful 'hn's and tch's.' Takahashi stood beside his father and Ryoichi was watching them all with a similar look of disgust. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"I'm telling you, it's an awesome idea!" Naruto whined persistently. He turned to his wife with a look of hopeful desperation. She glared.

"Naruto-kun! You're supposed to be p-punishing them!"

Neji rolled his eyes as he straightened a stack of scrolls "Honestly, Hinata-sama…" he still called her that even though she was no longer the heiress to the Hyuga clan "I don't see what you saw in that idiot."

She was starting to think the very same thing. Naruto turned to her and smiled "Ne, Hinata-chan… you so sexy when you're mad."

Hinata stared at him for five seconds "NOT HELPING!" she pounded his head into his desk.

"Cool!" Nina cried, pulling her fifteenth Popsicle out of her mouth.

"Not cool!" Hinata reprimanded. "NARUTO!"

Neji sighed. It looked like he'd have to handle another conflict. This family had more problems than Kiba had fleas, and that's saying something. "Naruto." He said calmly. The blonde looked up "Handle your family issues first and stop being such a retard. Listen to Hinata-sama." Neji turned to Hinata "Calm down. The world is not ending. Go get some chocolate or whatever you pregnant women do. Nina stop spazzing. Violence between family members is not cool."

Their jaw's dropped, but Neji was on a roll. He turned to the Uchiha's "Keiko, handle your brother better. Hisoka, you are not Sasuke so stop grunting like a primate."

He finally turned to his sons "Well done." He patted their heads.

The Uzumaki family plus Hisoka shared a knowing look. Hinata glared at her cousin "LET'S GET HIM!"

Keiko rubbed her temples and sighed as they fought against Neji and his clones, I mean sons. "We never get anything done." She mumbled.

-

-

Sakura twirled for the tenth time. She was still in a haze but was forced to move on anyway. Several old women circled her and began complimenting her telling her what a beautiful bride she'd make, and how lucky Daisuke was to find her. Her jaw muscles hurt from smiling too much. Just like her smile, everything in her life was fake. She felt as though this were an illusion, hiding her from the whole picture.

Too confused to think anymore, she stretched out her arm as a seamstress made a few adjustments on the sleeve. Something was wrong. She could feel it.

First of all, why didn't she remember much of her life? She remembered a few blips from the Leaf Village but that was all. According to Daisuke, she was a rogue ninja and needed to avoid all contact with Konoha at any cost. Confused, Sakura hesitantly agreed.

"You are so beautiful!" a red-haired woman around her age gushed as she brushed her hair "And your hair! It's such a lovely color! Is it genetic?"

"I think so." Sakura said uncertainly. Her voice sounded strange to her own ears.

"What do you mean?" the woman questioned but she was quickly silenced by some of the older females. She turned back to Sakura "My apologies. I forgot that you had amnesia."

Sakura gave a weary smile "That's alright. Why don't I remember my life?"

The women looked between themselves and whispered. Finally, a woman in her mid-forties answered, "You had an accident. Don't you remember dear?"

"No." She didn't remember anything. Only occasionally would she remember little things like a bridge, or the fuzzy image of a baby. Sometimes during her fretful naps she would see the unclear image of a blonde woman, who looked to be around her own age. The only clear memory she had was piercing onyx eyes. Even now she could see them.

-

-

"Let's go."

Miki groaned groggily. Almost as soon as her focus had cleared she could hear the voice of her newfound love. "Wha-?"

Sasuke glared down at her impatiently. This girl slept like a log, a fact which irritated him to no end. Sakura was a very light sleeper; she would always take cat-naps and wake up at the drop of a hat.

"We're leaving." He said, not even bothering to hide the impatience in his voice "Now."

Grumbling, she rose up and finger-brushed her short hair. All the while she stared at him curiously. Usually Sasuke would answer her stare with a glare of his own or an impatient snap, but today he was in a rush. He wasn't even going to waste his breath on her.

"Sasuke-kun…" she said hesitantly as she slung her small bag over her shoulder "Is everything alright?"

He ignored her and stepped out of the cave, enjoying the feeling of the cool breeze passing over him. Without a word, he began walking. Miki matched his pace.

After a few moments she glanced up at his face. He was staring straight ahead, with a look of solid determination. She raised an eyebrow "Is everything alright?" she repeated.

He acknowledged her for the 2nd time that morning. "No, but it will be."

-

-

It was nearly evening by the time that they restored order in the Hokage's office. Keiko had to go get Tsunade, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Rock Lee to end the fight. The results were several bruises, cuts, and a seriously trashed office. Not like it wasn't messy before or anything…

"Explain. Now." Were Tsunade's first words as she pinned Naruto to the floor.

"What do you mean?" he grunted.

She motioned towards a bruised Neji who propped himself against the desk in an attempt to regain some of his dignity. Nice try Neji.

Naruto grinned up at the older woman "No reason. We just felt like it, isn't that right Hina-chan?"

Hinata nodded slowly, much to Tsunade's amusement. Over the years the young Hyuga had started picking up some of Naruto's bad habits. Hinata lying was definitely something you didn't see every day. She stared at the young female for several minutes before releasing her death grip on Naruto.

"I already know you guys are lying." She said before either could thank her "But then again, it's not every day that you get to see the high and mighty Hyuga Neji knocked off his pedestal. Keep up the good work. Violence is always the answer."

"NO IT'S NOT!" Neji and Hinata yelled at the same time.

Naruto sat up Indian-style and frowned "No one wants to hear my great idea."

"Nope." Hisoka said quickly.

"Yes we do!" Keiko glared at her twin before walking towards the Hokage "What was your idea, Naruto-san?"

He smiled up at the small girl. She was so sweet sometimes… it was hard to believe that she was the child of a woman with a bad temper and a guy with a stick up his ass.

"Well my idea was-" he trailed off dramatically, capturing the attention of everyone in the room. Sometimes silence really was golden.

Shikamaru groaned from his position at the Hokage's chair "Just say it already. My troublesome wife is probably destroying my kitchen by now."

"Yeah, Akamaru needs to go on a walky."

Everyone stared at him.

"Anyways!" Naruto shouted "I thought that maybe I could send a shinobi to escort Keiko and Hisoka to see their parents! It'd be like a Uchiha Family reunion and I'm sure that Sakura-chan would be happy, especially since the Raikage is keeping her for an extra month."

Smiles slowly started to form on the faces of everyone present. Even Shikamaru looked somewhat intrigued by the idea. Keiko jumped up and down "Oh could we? Please Naruto-sama?"

Hisoka rolled his eyes "NOW she calls him Naruto-sama."

"It's a wonderful idea!" Hinata threw her arms around her husbands neck and kissed his cheek.

Naruto grinned broadly "Yeah, it was wasn't it?"

"Don't get too full of yourself." Neji grumbled.

"Shut up, just because you got your ass beat by a five year old." Kiba taunted, pointing to a large bruise on Neji's cheek.

The Hyuga glared "For your information, that particular bruise came from-" he paused "never mind."

"Who?" the younger brunette leaned forward.

"Hinata-san gave him that one." Hisoka smirked.

Keiko shook her head as Kiba began laughing loudly and Neji rose up to attack. She turned back to the beaming Hokage "Could we really see Otousan and Okasan?" she asked, her emerald eyes wide and pleading.

"Sure." Naruto grinned; he couldn't refuse a face like that. She was too precious.

The small girl cheered. Tsunade smiled fondly down at the girl. Hell, everyone was smiling down at her. Even Neji stopped fighting to smile. Kiba took that opportunity to knock Neji through a wall. Nina joined her friend in cheering. Shikamaru smirked.

"YOSH! FEEL THE POWER OF YOUTH!" Lee yelled from where he stood in the corner.

"You know," Naruto said during the awkward silence that followed "I forgot that he was even here."

-

-

The rain storm had finally cleared. Kyo climbed out from under the small overhanging rock that he had used as a shelter. He shook drops of moisture out of his hair and took to the trees.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

-

-

A day had gone by. Answers still failed her. Her normally bright green eyes were dull and lifeless as she stared out her suite's window. The wedding was coming up. Most brides felt joy, she only felt hollow. Empty. Alone.

"Sakura?"

She didn't even bother to turn as his familiar voice called. In a few seconds she felt his arms wrapped around her from behind in an intimate gesture. She felt nothing. Not a thing.

"Daisuke." The words rolled off her lips easily enough. She couldn't bear to face him. Not when she still couldn't understand things.

Daisuke kissed the top of her head fondly "You will make such a beautiful bride."

Sakura forced a smile and tilted her head up at him. "Arigato."

The suite was lovely enough. It was probably the largest room in the apartment complex. The large windows gave her a beautiful view of the city. The large double-bed was comfortable and decorated with large pillows, a graceful white netting covered it, protecting her from any intruder's eyes if need be. The rugs were soft, made of tiger fur and the dressers were made of the finest wood. It was the kind of suite only given to the richest of nobles.

Daisuke plucked a small lily from a nearby vase and tucked it behind her ear. She kept her smile up as he kissed her forehead, and then her cheek. When he neared her lips, she turned away.

They both froze. Daisuke stared at her, perplexed by her sudden movement. Was the jutsu faulty?

Sakura was just as confused. Why had she turned? This was the man she loved…right? Then how come whenever they got close she would see those eyes again? Those dark eyes which haunted her in the middle of the night. She was connected with the onyx eyed person she knew it.

"Is something wrong?" her fiancé whispered carefully, his hand stroking her hair even still.

"No." she lied smoothly. She thanked her old shinobi training which had made lying an easy feat for her. "I am just…tired."

He stared at her disbelievingly "Tired?" his voice practically dripped with doubt.

"Hai."

He withdrew his hand carefully and thought for a moment. "Are you experiencing any weird feelings? Remembering strange things? Anything?"

She instantly became suspicious. "Why?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"It could be your memories returning." He said hesitantly.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No!" Daisuke said quickly "It's just that…" he allowed his voice to trail off as he gently grasped her hand "Some of your memories weren't so sweet."

Sakura looked up sharply, her green eyes burrowing into his. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing, my love." He kissed her forehead softly. He was very open with his affections; something that pleased her feminine side yet set her off. She wondered why. Any female would die to have such an affectionate lover, yet here his every motion disturbed her. It was almost like it was too much for her.

She frowned a little, but he couldn't see it anyway. He had turned and sauntered out the suite. The door closed softly and she sighed. "What is going on?"

-

-

"Is everything ready?" Ino knelt down so that she was face to face with the two eager children. They nodded their affirmation. "Good."

She straightened up and smiled down at them. They were standing at the village gates and the two were going on their first trip outside the village. She wiped a stray tear. They were so grown up…

"Stop crying, troublesome female…" Shikamaru muttered from beside her. Instead of yelling, she just wrinkled her nose at him. He was only complaining because he was forced to hold Yasuo who was tugging on his earring "OUCH! It's connected!"

Ino giggled a little before turning to the twin's escort, an anbu by the name of Shinji (sound familiar?). He gave a funny little smile. He wore his street clothes, which consisted of a loose fitting blue jacket which covered his cream colored top. His pants were loose, and wrinkled. All and all he looked like a casual traveler going on vacation with…some kids. There was definitely no resemblance between them, but the leaf couldn't spare any extra shinobi.

"You take care of my darlings, okay?" she said warningly.

He nodded and gave a dramatic bow "Your wish is my command."

"It'd better be."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes in the background. Sachiko smiled and waved at the twins who waved back eagerly. "Have a great trip." She called.

Keiko beamed. She couldn't be any happier if she tried. She turned to her twin who tried to contain his excitement, but was doing so very poorly. Their first trip outside of the village! A monumental occasion for any aspiring shinobi.

Ino leaned down and kissed both children on the cheek "Take care of yourselves, be sure to listen to Shinji-san, don't talk to strangers, and please be careful."

"We will!" Keiko saluted eagerly.

"Tch." Hisoka folded his arms "You're not my mom."

Before Ino could explode he continued "But I'm glad you're watching out for us. We'll see you in a few days Aunty Ino." Then he surprised everyone by smiling.

Ino nearly fainted. This boy was full of surprises!

Shikamaru smirked and ruffled his hair "I'm sure you guys will be fine. Ino, stop being troublesome and let them go, otherwise we won't hear the end of it from Sakura."

"You're right." She sighed, once she got over the initial shock of Hisoka smiling "Bye!"

"Lucky!" Sachiko called out enviously.

The twins waved one final time before turning around, shouldering their bags, and marching off into unknown territory.

"My little children…all grown up…" the blonde woman sniffled.

"Yeah, whatever…" Shikamaru gave a loud yawn as he passed the burping Yasuo to Ino. He watched as his wife, his semi-nephew, and daughter headed home. Turning his head back towards where the trio disappeared he shook his head "Why do I have a funny feeling about all this?"

-

-

End Chapter 

And that my darlings, was chapter… uh nine was it? Wow I forget. I hope you guys liked it! It was difficult to write, believe you me. Still, I'm glad I updated for my darlings! –runs from angry reviewers-

Things are pretty busy around here like I mentioned before, but hopefully I'll finish this story within a month. It'll break my heart though. I mean, I've become so attached –tears- still, afterwards I'll come up with whatever story won in the polls so please VOTE IN MY POLL! LOOK ON MY PROFILE AND VOTE ALREADY!!!!

Oh... Sasuke won by a few votes! Hurry for the Chicken-butt people!!! Woot! So far Sasuke has turned out to be the all around champion of my vs. polls. I can't think of another male to compare him to… Therefore, we're going to try males vs. females. Who do you think is a better character Sasuke or Hinata? Ooohh… both of them have won so far so let's see. Vote away my pretties!

Don't forget to review! –crickets chirp- Please?


	10. Chapter 10

Guess who's back

Guess who's back? Yeah, I know I took forever and that I'm such an idiot for not updating. I was enjoying my spring break by going on college tours (see my notes in Cliché for details. It's really good, especially the part where our bus broke down in the middle of nowhere and we were stuck for hours. I kid you not.)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I do own Neji who is too sexy for his own good.**

**Neji: HELP ME!!**

**-**

**-**

Children all throughout history are known for being cute, hard to deal with, difficult minded, stubborn, obnoxious creatures. '_And for a good reason.'_ Shinji thought bitterly as the twins got into another quarrel.

"Okasan said that fire jutsu is not for cooking!"

"Otousan did it before!"

"He burnt the rice!"

"SO?"

"I SAID STOP!"

"Don't you shove me!"

Shinji slapped his forehead. They were at it again. If there was something worth arguing about, they would find it. The two spent the early part of the trip arguing about the location of their parents, then they argued about who got to lead, then they argued about what they packed, and then they… the list went on.

"Can you two stop, for just one second?" he pleaded desperately as he approached the would-be campsite. Unfortunately it ended up looking like a burnt crater. His eyebrows raised at the sight of several flaming bushes.

Hisoka glared up at the older man "Keiko won't let me use my fire jutsu to start a fire. I told her that's why it's called a FIRE jutsu and not one of her lousy taijutsu moves."

"Fire jutsu is for fighting, not cooking or any other use!" Keiko stuck her tongue out.

The only adult in the small gathering sighed. There was no way to calm these children. He silently wondered how Sakura managed parenthood so well. Every time he saw her she was smiling and talking about how wonderful life was. She was definitely something else. He could see why Sasuke loved her so much.

"Hisoka, your fire jutsu is impressive but too powerful for a simple fire." Keiko gave a triumphant smile as Shinji reprimanded the boy "One time your father used it to start a fire, it's very effective…perhaps a bit too effective. You understand don't you?"

"…yes…"

"And Keiko, stop nagging. You're not his mother." Shinji stuck his tongue out playfully earning a glare from the small girl. "If that's all, let's get a move on."

"But we didn't get to eat!"

"That's your problem. I told you guys that we only have fifteen minutes but you two chose to spend that time bickering. Now you'll just have to go hungry. Let's move out."

Angry and embarrassed, the two five-year olds quickly took to the trees.

There was so much noise and color it was almost unreal. Women scurried about finishing the last-minute wedding preparations. Young men re-tried on their suits, old women sighed as they reminisced about their own wedding. All of the usual activity was there. So why wasn't she feeling it?

Sakura gazed glumly at herself in the mirror. She was the perfect image of the beautiful bride. Daisuke had chosen a more-so traditional look for her wedding. She twirled around once more, showing off the beautiful wedding kimono-style dress. The only difference was there weren't so many difficult ties and accessories. It was a beautiful shade of emerald green with a mix of silver, perfect for her eye color.

She was beautiful. Yet she was unhappy.

"Why?"

"Why what, Haruno-sama?" an elder maid asked.

Sakura shook her head. She didn't know what to say. There were a lot of 'whys' in her life. Why didn't she feel like the name Haruno fit? It was like she was supposed to be someone, or something else but she couldn't find it. Then whenever she looked into her soon to be husband's eyes, she felt unsatisfied. They weren't supposed to be golden…she was always waiting for those onyx eyes. Nothing made sense anymore.

"Nothing." She whispered, even though the maid had already turned her attention to her elaborate bun. Her head hurt. Why did she have to wear a bun? Why couldn't she wear her hair down? The combs and pins were making her scalp burn.

"It hurts."

The maid gave a crinkled smile "I know it does, milady. Don't worry, it'll be over soon."

"I hope so."

It was a strangely quiet day. It was the kind of day where nothing happened even though you secretly hoped that something would happen, just so things wouldn't be so peaceful. Hyuga Neji was feeling strangely impatient. He twirled his kunai for the fifteenth time as he stood beside the Hokage's desk.

"Will you cut that out already?" Uzumaki Naruto complained, banging his fist on the desk to prove his point. "That's annoying!"

"My apologies."

Ever since he was small he always had something of a sixth sense. On the day his father died, he just knew that something was wrong. That was why he wasn't too surprised when he found out. Narrowing his gray eyes, he flicked his wrist carelessly, embedding the kunai into the far wall. The Hokage leaned back in his chair to give him the full brunt of his glare.

"I said cut it out!"

Neji smirked. "I apologize once more."

Naruto looked irritated but said nothing more. Neji's smirk quickly faltered. Something was going to happen today. He only wished that he could be part of it.

The clouds were blowing awfully fast, almost too fast for the two cloud-watchers to identify any shapes. "Un. They're going to fast." Sachiko complained.

"Yeah." Shikamaru yawned as his eyes lazily watched the clouds.

"We could always help Okasan out with Yasuo."

"Nah."

"Yeah."

"-Yawn-"

"-Yawn-"

"SHIKAMARU! SACHIKO!" Both sat up abruptly after having their peaceful afternoon ruined. They looked down the hill where Ino stood with Yasuo balancing on her hip "What are you doing up there?"

"Same thing we do every day!" Shikamaru yelled back down. He made a face at his daughter who suppressed a giggle.

Ino shook her head and marched up the hill until she stood hovering above both cloud-watchers. Her expression was between disbelief and disgust. "I can't believe you two would leave me with all the chores while you watch-" she waved her hand upwards "CLOUDS! Look, I've got a lot to do today, which means you guys will work too."

Sachiko groaned "C'mon…can't we get a break."

"No." Ino gave her a glare which could scare even the strongest of anbu "You!" she shoved Yasuo into Shikamaru arms "Take the baby, and You!" she pointed at her daughter who was sitting up in a crouching position "clean your bedroom! We're having guests today and I-"

She talked on as her daughter and husband shared a glance. "Troublesome."

"Here we are," Miki exclaimed proudly, her arms folded "The Village Hidden In The Clouds. Just in time too!"

Sasuke raised a suspicious eyebrow at the overly-excited female "Just in time for what?"

She turned to him and grinned. "My friend's wedding! That's the main reason why I wanted to be here so soon! I'm so glad that we made it! Let's go to the chapel before all the seats get taken up!"

"Chapel?"

"Kami, have you been living under a rock or something? Let's just go."

Glaring at the green-haired woman, he followed her begrudgingly, his mind on Sakura the whole time. Just knowing that she was near made the whole trip worthwhile.

Everyone seemed to be in a rush. Maids ran by making sure everything was just right, random well-wishers came by to compliment the bride, children got in the way… It was the usual hustle and bustle of a full-fledged wedding. Only one thing was missing.

"Why don't I feel happy?" Sakura asked her reflection. The reflection said nothing; it only stared at her with an equally sad expression. "You're no help."

Her normally bright green eyes were dull with tiredness and depression. Definitely not a symptom of being a bride. That and her stomach felt strange. She was recently informed that she was pregnant, but somehow that didn't set right. Daisuke told her that it was his child but deep down inside she could feel that it wasn't. If it wasn't his child than whose was it? Why did she feel like she ought to be with the father?

"This is just too confusing." Barely had those words passed from her lips when a figure ran past the open doorway. Curious, she followed. He stopped in front of Daisuke's room and knocked. He was almost immediately let in.

Sneaking carefully, she came closer to the door and peeked in through the crack. Daisuke was dressed in traditional garb, but instead of looking joyous he looked furious.

"What do you mean by 'he's here'?" he hissed, his golden eyes flashing dangerously. For a moment they reminded her of a falcon ready to destroy it's prey.

The man she followed shrugged his shoulders carefully. He was panting and looked as though he had run a long way. The most defining feature was his short brown hair "I'm sorry, but he beat me to it. He's here with Miki."

Daisuke looked a little more relaxed as he slumped into his chair "Miki-chan? It will be good to see her again. Perhaps she can handle that troublesome pest of ours."

"Perhaps."

"That doesn't mean you're off the hook!" Daisuke's eyes flashed once more, filling Sakura with fear. Something was definitely wrong. Who were they trying to keep away? She timidly knocked on the door. Both men bolted upright.

"Who is it?" Daisuke asked while drawing a kunai.

"It's me."

He dropped the kunai and leapt across the room to open the door. His face was full of surprise and…fear? "What are you doing here? It's bad luck to see the bride before the-"

"Who is he?" she pointed to the brown-haired male who instantly looked nervous. He turned his face away but not before she could get a glimpse of it. Her head began spinning.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Daisuke asked, sounding concerned as he used an arm to hold her steady. She clung onto him for a few moments until her head cleared.

"Y-yes…I think so." She whispered weakly, her eyes never leaving the brown haired man. Sakura felt more and more suspicious of the whole affair. "Who is he?"

The Raikage gave a small chuckle "Just an old friend."

"Then who is the pest that you speak of?"

Daisuke shot the man a glare before smiling softly at Sakura. "Just a rogue nin. He's been messing with my village for ages and I didn't want him or his antics to disrupt our wedding."

That sounded feasible enough. It made sense in it's own weird way, but why didn't she trust him? Maybe she was thinking too much into it. She shook her head slowly "Sorry to bother you. I should go back and get ready for the…ceremony."

"Yes," her fiancé smiled kindly "That would be best. I can't wait."

She opened her mouth to say 'me neither' but the words wouldn't come out. She stared at him helplessly, looking like a lost child before shaking her head once more. Giving a weak smile, she ran out the room.

Daisuke collapsed back into his chair. He glared up at Kyo "If that Uchiha shows up, you'd better kill him or you'll be out of a job for the rest of your life."

Kyo nodded "I understand."

It was crowded inside the chapel; if it hadn't been for Miki they would've gotten a back row seat. Instead they were seated somewhere comfortably towards the middle. Voices were heard from all other as everyone anxiously talked about the Raikage and his beautiful new bride.

"So who's the bride?" Sasuke asked more out of boredom than anything else.

Miki's eyes lit up at the very thought of Sasuke starting a conversation with her. Maybe their relationship was improving! "Oh… well…" she tried her best to sound casual "apparently she's some medic nin from the Leaf Village."

The Uchiha's body froze. He quickly turned back to the woman "Really?"

"Uh huh. Everyone says she's really good."

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. If it was a Leaf medic then she was definitely part of Sakura's team, if that was the fact then Sakura would be here at the wedding! Just the very thought of seeing her again made his heart thump harder. "Did she come with other medics?"

"Yeah, some of them are here now." She pointed to a group of the leaf medic's, who for some strange reason looked sleepy. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized each face. None of them were Sakura. Maybe Sakura was a bridesmaid or something. She WAS really close with all those under her.

"I see."

"Why are you so interested?" Miki asked as a group of people squeezed past them "Do you know the bride or something?"

The Uchiha shrugged slowly, feeling relieved that a particularly large man had already passed. It was getting hot in there already "No. I know a friend of the bride's though. I was hoping that she was here."

"She might be." She added in hopefully.

Sasuke stared at her in surprise. This was the first time that she was being genuinely nice. Feeling a little generous, he gave her his version of a friendly smirk before facing up front once more.

'_That's alright,'_ he thought '_I can wait.'_

"Yay! We're there!"

"You mean here."

"Who cares? Okasan is only a little while away!"

Shinji smiled down at the two children for the first time since the beginning of the trip. They were genuinely excited about seeing their mother. He had to admit, he was kind of excited too. Sakura was such a sweet person to be around. He knew she'd be happy seeing her children again. There was nothing she loved more then her family.

His eyes narrowed. The streets were silent. "What's going on?" he asked aloud.

"The Raikage's wedding." Hisoka said quietly.

"What?"

The small boy pointed to a sign. Shinji almost slapped himself for missing such a major detail. It was amazing how perceptive the child really was. He was every bit like his father. "I see, well maybe your mother is there. After all, she is attending to the Raikage's medical staff."

"Yeah!" Keiko punched a fist in the air "They have directions here too!"

The older man patted the girl on the head "Let's get moving then."

A short, fat man stood up on a pedestal and made quick hand motions. The small orchestra which mainly comprised of flutes, violins, a piano, and a harp began playing soft music. The wedding had begun.

The ceremony was a basic contemporary service with a traditional flair. All in all it was pretty impressive. The guests stood as the bride was escorted in.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the veil which hid the woman's face. Now he would never know who the bride was, at least not until the end of the service. As she passed he couldn't help but notice a slight slump in her shoulders. Her movements were somewhat lethargic almost as though she were full of regret. What was there to regret on a wedding day?

He gave Miki a questioning glance but she was too busy watching the Raikage. She met his eyes and smiled, he returned with a tight lipped smile of his own. His golden eyes narrowed at Sasuke for some strange reason. Unimpressed, Sasuke glared right back while wondering what he did to upset the man. Maybe he was in love with Miki? Things like that happened all the time.

Relieved to be seated, Sasuke leaned back in his chair and prepared himself to listen to the priest drone on for an hour. Oh yeah, he had been there before.

The priest certainly was a talker. Sasuke had never heard someone talk so long before. Even his wedding was short in comparison. Finally it came to the vows. The Raikage repeated some vows and then the bride. The Uchiha vaguely noted that the voice was familiar. Maybe he had met this medic before?

"You may now kiss your bride."

Sasuke never did like weddings, but this time he was intrigued. He couldn't wait for the stupid veil to be pushed back. Who was this medic and why did he feel like he knew her?

The Raikage smiled pityingly at Sasuke. The Uchiha started. What was that for? Daisuke then pushed the veil back. Several things happened at that moment.

Sasuke jumped up and yelled, "THAT'S MY WIFE!"

An insecure Sakura pulled away from the Raikage and cried, "Wait! I'm not ready!" she froze as a strange man declared her his wife. She turned and felt as though the whole world stood still. Those eyes, they were the eyes from her dreams. She stared at him in shock.

Several guests gasped.

A brown haired ninja leapt down from the rafters and charged the onyx-eyed man.

The guests gasped again. A woman fainted.

The doors burst open to reveal two children and a silver haired man. The children screamed "Okasan!"

Then everything went haywire.

End Chapter

I know I owe you guys more of a chapter than that. I wanted to make it longer, but I couldn't add more without dragging it on. So here's the dramatic…uhh… climax? I guess that's what I could call it. Also I just learned how to do the solid black line thingy! Hooray!

**I'm not too sure on who won the poll (I was busy these past two weeks) but I know that it was a close one. Okay, I'm pretty sure that it was Sasuke. So, three cheers for Sasuke. Yay. So now I'm gonna ask a 'real world' question. It might not apply to too many of you. Okay, Chris Brown or Ne-Yo? I'm not sure if many of you guys like Hip Hop and R&B but those two styles of music are my life. Besides, I like dancing to them. You really can't dance to rock. Oh, it might sound confusing. Well I'm changing my profile so you guys can be clear on my race, so check it out!**

**So with all that said, please pretty please review. K? Make my day! Cross the 300 reviews mark! Do the world a favor! Please? I'll give Neji to my 300****th**** reviewer!**


	11. Chapter 11

Well, since you guys insist…and since I took forever I think I'm going to update now

Well, since you guys insist…and since I took forever I think I'm going to update now. Yeah, go me.

**Oh yeah, I'm sorry if I haven't responded to any pm's lately. I have two screen names and my email account is on the other one…so yeah… I'm really sorry. That and I'm helping my grandma move, plus I think I might have a job. Yay. **

**Disclaimer: I am not a male; I am a teenage female with serious updating issues. Why the HELL would you think I own Naruto? Geez, get a life you loser! Sorry, it's been one of those days…**

**-**

**-**

Everyone in the chapel was in shock. The first people to break out of that state were Daisuke and the twins.

"Enough of this!" the infuriated Raikage clapped his hands twice "Kill him!"

Keiko looked at the white haired man in shock. Hisoka drew a kunai and charged but was held back by his twin. "What?" he hissed angrily, his eyes fixated on the man who ordered the death of his father.

She shook her head "No," she whispered "Let's retreat and regroup."

"What?"

She wasn't paying attention to him. Backing up slowly she said aloud "Okasan's not here. Let's go." The action was unnecessary since all eyes were fixed on the drama unfolding before them. Gulping, the girl slammed the chapel doors shut behind them. "That was close."

Hisoka folded his arms angrily. He wanted to get out there and kick that white haired man's ass. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew that some of it had to be that guy's fault. His onyx eyes narrowed dangerously, this man would pay.

"Hisoka, I know what you're feeling…" Keiko sighed as she leaned against the outside of the chapel. From where she stood she could hear the sounds of battle inside "But we have to think this through. Blasting everyone with a fire jutsu won't work."

He glared stonily at her "It should."

She gave him a weak smile and shrugged her backpack off. "Now that Shinji-san is gone, it's up to us to handle things."

"Handle things?" Hisoka raised a fine eyebrow at his sister. She was so weird sometimes. "Like how? We're only five years old. Life isn't anything like they portray it in those stupid fairy tales you read."

Keiko gave him a glare worthy of the Uchiha name. "I never said that! Now shut up and think!"

"Fine."

"Fine!" she stuck her tongue out.

They had a long way to go.

Everything went by so quickly, it seemed like all he had to do was blink and then something would change. One minute he was attending a wedding with an obnoxious female, the next thing he knew he was fighting for his life. Well, not really. He was an Uchiha after all. But he'd be a lying Uchiha if he didn't say that his opponent was a tough one.

Sasuke grunted as he dodged another thrown kunai. If it were just him against this brown haired nin he'd be okay, but it seemed like every other attendee of the wedding was a shinobi. Okay, so he was exaggerating. There had to be about 15 odd shinobi in there, the Raikage included.

He braced himself for an attack as his opponent swung his fists wildly. Whoever this man was, he didn't have any definite style but he was powerful, which made things even worse. Not only was it difficult to pre-anticipate his movements, but blocking left his arms feeling sore. His Sharingan activated, allowing him to dodge gracefully as he formulated a plan.

"Sakura! What the hell are you doing?" he yelled as he gave a random ninja a good blow to the head. That ought to keep him out of commission for a while.

The pink haired woman stared at him in shock. He growled in irritation. What was wrong with her? Ordinarily, she'd join in the fight and cause a few huge craters. Then afterwards she would apologize while laughing sheepishly. So why wasn't she moving? He missed the old her. "Sakura? Move your ass! Let's go!"

She continued to stare. "CHIDORI!" he smirked in grim satisfaction as he ripped out the insides of a nin who came too close. The bad part about activating his chidori the old way was that for a few short seconds he was an open target. During those seconds he would usually duck as Sakura spin-kicked over his head, knocking aside any shinobi who dared to use that to their advantage. He was gravely disappointed when he received a solid blow to the stomach.

His smirk turned into a feral grin. Fine, two could play this way.

"Who are you?" Sakura whispered as she watched the dark eyed man fight off cloud ninja. Every swing of his arm, graceful bend of his back, sweep of the leg, was familiar to her. She could almost pre-anticipate his every move. It was as though she knew him in another life. "Who are you?"

It was scary, how well she felt that she knew him. When he performed a jutsu called 'chidori' she felt as though that was her time to join in the fight. Instead she stood stock still as the battle continued. She turned to her almost-husband to see a look of pure fury on his face.

"Who is he?" Sakura asked.

Daisuke turned to her with a strained smile. Every muscle in his body twitched. "This man…" he swept his hand in Sasuke's general direction "Is the rogue nin I told you about. He is nothing but trouble. Let our ninja take care of him. Once he is destroyed, we will continue our ceremony."

Sakura nodded slowly even though the answer was unsatisfactory. "Who were those children?"

"I do not know." The Raikage answered truthfully. They looked a lot like the Uchiha. They could be trouble.

"This is too troublesome. Let's do something else."

"You sound like Nara-san and Sachiko-chan." Keiko complained as she emptied out their tools and organized them into different groups.

"What's the point?"

"The point, my dear brother" Keiko sighed, feeling irritated "is that we have to help Okasan and Otousan whatever way possible. It's that simple."

Hisoka rolled his eyes as he watched his sister take forever separating their ninja tools. She was too tidy for her own good. Even he knew that they were in a rush. "If it's so simple, why are you taking forever? Don't you think they'll need our help by now."

The long haired girl slammed a shuriken on the ground. "Sometimes you have to think things through!"

"So thinking things through includes taking twenty years organizing your stuff?"

"It helps me think!" she snapped "I think I have a plan already."

Hisoka smirked "Oh really? Ten to one, I'll say that my plan is better."

She looked up at her brother eagerly "Okay, let's hear it."

Keiko looked at her twin in disbelief "That's your brilliant plan?" she asked sarcastically "While we're at it why don't we ask the fourth Hokage and the cream cheese angels to come down from heaven to aid us?"

"It was a suggestion." Hisoka hissed, not liking her attitude at all "Besides, it's not that impossible."

"Yeah right!" she shoved the tools in hurriedly "Like you're going to magically activate your Sharingan when even Itachi couldn't activate it until age 8. And how am I supposed to find backup ninja? Shadow clone jutsu? Please, I can barely even make two decent shadow clones. I spent two straight days training with Hokage-sama!"

Her twin helped her shove the tools in and stood up straight, his eyes fixated on the chapel. "It was just a suggestion." He shrugged "But now I have a better one."

"What? Summoning a magical dragon?" she asked, with a hint of her mother's signature sarcasm.

Hisoka looked around shifty eyed "Maybe…"

She stared at him for a second before giggling. "Okay, now it's MY turn. Here's what we're going to do…"

Shinji hadn't anticipated this at all. He had planned to bring the little brats, I mean delightful children, and meet up with Sakura. Then they'd have a happy little reunion and he'd get a possible raise. This was not supposed to happen. He was not supposed to be pinned up to the wall by a shinobi three times the size of him.

"Man, what kind of gyms do they have in this village?" he asked while chuckling nervously. He hated playing the part of Naruto but it usually made his opponents think less of him.

Apparently his opponent did not appreciate humor. His air supply was almost fully choked off. Gathering the last bit of saliva he spat on the mans hand.

"What was that for?" the brute growled, his breath reeking of fish.

Shinji managed a weak smile as he struggled to bring his hands together to form a single seal. "Kai!"

Nothing happened. "Why'd you yell that?" the brute now looked amused and slightly confused. Well, he always looked confused…

"That," Shinji gasped "Was to mess with your little mind… this is to freeze it."

The ninja was about to make a response but his whole body was quickly covered with a solid layer of ice. He stared with unblinking eyes at the Leaf Ninja who was now grinning cockily as he broke out of the frozen grip. "Oops…" the silver haired man chuckled as something snapped off "I think that was your thumb."

He brushed himself off and drew a kunai. Finally, things were working in his favor.

"This is taking forever! I'm hungry."

"Okasan always says that an impatient shinobi is the worst kind." Keiko said wisely as she stared up at the chapel roof. Now how could they…

Hisoka nodded his head slowly, although it was hard to ignore the rumble of his stomach. He clutched it and made a face. "Gomen."

His sister smiled apologetically at him. "That's okay… don't worry, we'll help them and then everything will be alright. Who knows, maybe Okasan will make us some of her famous leek onigiri."

"I hate leeks." (where'd that come from?)

She giggled a little as she drew out a handful of paper bombs. Her brother's eyes lit up at the very sight of them. "You ready?" she whispered.

"Oh yeah."

Chaos. That was the only word to describe the inside of the chapel. Wedding participants ducked under benches and ran for their lives. The priest fainted. The bride stood there in shock, watching the dark haired intruder take on most of the Cloud Ninja. A silver haired anbu came out of nowhere and joined in the fight, freezing several shinobi. The groom clenched his fist, looking ready to kill. To top it all, some of the greenery was on fire.

"Darling," Daisuke said with a fake smile "Pardon me please. I think I will help get rid of this…intruder."

Sakura nodded slowly, her mind not fully comprehending what he just said. Her eyes were still fixated on the dark haired man. There was no way to describe how she was feeling. She would continually see flashes of the man as a teenager, child, and then back to an adult. Whenever she tried to convince herself of Daisuke's honesty she would see more flashes. These new flashes involved the two children that entered, and one other child.

"Daisuke…" she whispered, but he was already charging towards the dark haired man's unguarded back. Even with his sharp eyes he wouldn't be unable to counter that attack. If the Raikage played his cards right, this man was going to die.

She shuddered. In her heart, she silently prayed that the man from her dreams would survive. For her sake.

Daisuke's blade was only mere inches away from the Uchiha's back. All he needed was to get a little closer and his opponent would be done and over with. Then he could go on with his life with Sakura and forget all about Konoha. He didn't plan on being interrupted.

His golden eyes widened in shock as a paper tag flew out of nowhere and attached itself to the blade. It began hissing ominously. Out of pure reflex, he dropped the sword and leapt a good distance away from the weapon. Unfortunately, the hissing sound warned the Uchiha who mimicked the Raikage's actions, leaving his opponent to be burned in the small inferno.

The Uchiha smirked at the white haired man before dodging a blow from an attacking chuunin. Daisuke had other things on his mind than that cursed Uchiha. "Where did that come from?"

His eyes widened as he heard the hissing again. This time it was attached to the back of his cloak. He quickly yanked it off and leapt to a safer zone as the tag exploded.

"-fire ball jutsu!" He turned just in time to see a fireball heading straight towards him.

"Wind style: Great wind Jutsu!" a powerful gust of wind blew around him, forming an almost invisible shield around his body.

The strength of the gust caused Sasuke and his opponents to stop fighting just to keep themselves standing. Sakura's veil flew in the wind, making her look like a ghost bride. She could only stare.

As soon as the wind died, Daisuke straightened himself out. "Who's there? Show yourself?" Already he could sense a chakra presence. Surprisingly, the chakra felt fresh…as though it were that of a child. Was he fighting a bijuu?

"Take this!" a voice cried from behind him. He smirked as several kunai flew towards him. Too easy. He dodged easily as his eyes zoned in on the figure.

"A child?" he asked in disbelief. This was utterly ridiculous. A child was attacking him. It was not just any child, but one of the children he had seen earlier. The Uchiha's kid. His eyes narrowed. Therefore, that would make it Sakura's son then. How very interesting. He would just have to eliminate them both.

The boy scowled up at him, his eyes full of fury. "Don't underestimate me." He growled.

Daisuke raised an eyebrow. The child was fierce. It reminded him a little of the older Uchiha, who was currently staring at the child in shock.

"Hisoka?" Sasuke gaped "What are you doing here?"

The child, Hisoka smirked up at his father. "Fighting. What are you doing here? And why is Okasan getting married?"

"Like hell if I'd know!"

Hisoka's smirk grew into a smile. "I don't know what's going on. I do know that this man has something to do with it."

"Hn." Sasuke quickly killed another ninja with a swift slice of his kunai. "Where's…?"

His son put a finger to his lips "It's a secret."

Daisuke charging at the boy cut their conversation short. He barely had time to defend himself before he was sent flying.

"HISOKA!" Sasuke screamed as he watched his child soar through the air. He watched in shock as the boy formed several seals while in midair and sent a formidable sized fireball at the Raikage. The man barely had enough time to dodge. Sasuke had to smirk, his son was always full of surprises. He quickly turned to see Sakura staring at Hisoka with a strange expression on her face.

"Why are you just standing there?" he demanded angrily "Aren't you going to help your child? He needs you! We need you! I need you…"

She blinked, as though brought out of a trance "What? My… child?"

_**Multiple flashbacks**_

"_**Tch. You're annoying."**_

_**A blonde boy pumped his fist into the air "I'm gonna be Hokage, believe it!"**_

"_**I got lost on the road of life." The copy nin smiled from behind his perverted book.**_

"_**LIAR!!"**_

"_**Come on big forehead, give it a rest."**_

"_**I pronounce you man and wife.**_

_**The dark haired man smirked "You're still annoying."**_

"_**I CAN DO THIS!"**_

_**Sakura hugged the man "I missed you."**_

"_**Sasuke's dead."**_

"_**I love you, madly and passionately."**_

_**She blushed. "Stop kidding around!"**_

_**He leaned closer to her "I wasn't joking."**_

"_**Congratulations, you gave birth to a healthy girl and boy! What are you going to name them?" the nurse asked, her face alight with joy. Sakura smiled.**_

"_**I think… I'll let Sasuke-kun help me."**_

_**The small girl ran towards her, her hair dripping wet. "OKASAN! HISOKA THREW A WATER BALLOON AT ME!"**_

"_**Hn."**_

_**A heart shaped Onigiri.**_

_**A kunai.**_

_**The dark haired man smirking at her "You are insane."**_

_**She stuck her tongue out at him. "You are too!"**_

"_**How very immature."**_

"_**Shut up!"**_

"_**Sakura," his onyx eyes bored into hers "take care of yourself, okay?"**_

"_**I love you Sasuke."**_

_**He turned to her with a genuine smile "I know."**_

Sakura clutched her head tightly as the memories came pouring through her mind. Her focus became unsteady, her breathing uneven. "Sasuke…" she gasped. This dark haired man was… he was… This didn't make sense. Nothing made sense anymore.

Sasuke saw her current state and took a step closer to her. His eyes caught the movement before his body could comprehend it. A sword protruded from his shoulder. He stared at it in shock and then glanced up at the Raikage. "Tch. Is that the best you can do?" he gripped the blade painfully and drew it out of his body.

The Raikage's body tensed as the Uchiha leapt a safe distance away from him. He quickly turned to see a barrage of small shuriken headed his way. Daisuke smirked "More weapons?" he evaded each tool without taking a single step.

"You might have to do better than that." He said aloud as a figure leapt from the support beams.

"Oh really?" the small girl smiled. She yanked tugged her hands back violently.

It took him a few moments to register what was going on. By then she had already pulled the chakra strings and sent the shuriken flying back. He gritted his teeth as one ripped the flesh of his arm. He quickly moved out of the way only to realize that Sasuke was charging at him, his hand glowing.

"CHIDORI!"

"How did this happen?" Shinji mused aloud as he battled the ninja who had attacked Sasuke earlier. Somehow in the fight, he and Sasuke had managed to switch opponents, leaving him with this impossibly strong ex-Mist ninja.

"How did what?" the man asked as they flew at each other.

"You know," Shinji shrugged, dodging the attacks blow for blow. "You and me fighting. Why are you working for this man anyway? You're a Mist Ninja."

The man's eyes narrowed painfully "Not anymore."

"So now you're going to try and ruin someone's marriage?"

"Shut up! You don't know me at all!" Shinji seemed to have struck a nerve. He winced as he received a solid blow to the chest.

"Well, I don't really want to." The Leaf Ninja said carelessly "I just know that my friend's marriage was almost ruined and that he and his family are in some form of danger." He nodded towards the battle as Daisuke sent Hisoka flying into a pillar.

Kyo growled, "Why should I care?"

"I didn't say you had to. I was letting you know that I cared and that I'm not going to let you win."

That seemed to halt his opponent completely. The younger man dropped his weapons and sighed. "I know. I know."

Shinji blinked "You know what?"

"I didn't want her to get hurt. I just…"

The silver haired ninja smiled. "Then help them."

They both turned to see a few Cloud Ninja regroup and prepare to attack the unaware Uchiha family, minus Sakura. They shared a nod before charging into the fray.

He should have seen it coming…he should have known that he was leaving himself up for an attack. He wasn't thinking clearly. The only thought that ran through his mind was that this man stole his wife and hurt his child. He didn't care what happened just as long as that bastard died. "CHIDORI!"

Sasuke found himself smiling as his attack struck the very arm that Keiko's shuriken sliced through. He watched in grim satisfaction as the Raikage's good arm swung a blade right towards his head. So this was how it was going to end. He was grateful that he died protecting the people he loved the most, his family. Well, then there was that stupid dobe… but he wasn't willing to die for him. Smirking at the thought, he shut his eyes. His body was temporarily frozen anyway.

"CCCHHHYAAAAHHHH!!"

His eyes snapped open as Daisuke, and another ninja were sent flying. He glanced upwards instinctively to see Sakura above him, her lips fixated into her signature smile. "Don't just stand there, dumbass!" she yelled, "MOVE!"

Sasuke's heart sped up to an unnatural pace. Sakura was back…Sakura was back. He began to feel that strange feeling he felt whenever Sakura would smile at him, or do something silly. Happiness.

His body moving a head of his brain, he ducked under her leg and ran after the Raikage's flying form. Happiness turned to rage. His Sharingan eyes narrowed dangerously as he came closer to the body of the man who tried to take what was his and his alone. Sasuke gritted his teeth. Raikage or not, this man was going down. "DIE!"

**End Chapter**

NOOOO!! Poor Daisuke is going to die! Wait, why am I the only one crying?

First on the agenda: I said I was changing my profile. I still am. For some reason when I login and click profile/bio the whole screen freezes. I try everything but it always freezes on that one screen, leaving me to scream and curse the world. I guess I could tell you my race…not like it matters…not like you care.

CONGRATULATIONS to Rallybabe89! You now officially own Neji! –throws confetti and cheers- for this occasion I even forced him to wear a suit. I will miss him, I trust you to take good care of my dear Neji –cries dramatically-. Also congratulations to Young otouto who wins a Neji Plushy because she/he asked so nicely! If you squeeze the plushy's hand it says key phrases like 'It was fate that you would squeeze my hand.' And 'I see you.'

Wow, Chris Brown totally pawned Ne-Yo on the polls. I was a little sad about that –sniffles- but I will survive. Question: France or Italy? Like, where would you rather live/visit/whatever.

ATTENTION! PLEASE READ: After this little episode with Sasuke and Sakura, I will have three bonus chapters that go into different time periods. Like when the twins are 6, 10, 12 etc. Reviewer number 350 gets to choose the third bonus chapter's theme. It can be whatever you think of. I'll pm whoever you are and then you get to tell me the theme, what you'd like to see in the chapter, etc. K? Bye people! PLEASE REVIEW!!


	12. Chapter 12

Me again

Me again. I love my reviewers! I LOVE my REVIEWERS!! Okay, I just wanted to get that one out. Hopefully a certain someone who needs to respect my privacy will at least gain the guts enough to review on my story. YOU know who I'm talking about…Moriah.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Neji. Rallybabe89 has taken my precious Neji away from me. –cries- I'll be alright because I still own GAARA!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!**

**Oh yeah, I recently learned how to do that cool line thing. Isn't it awesome? Bask in the glory of my horizantal lines.**

Keiko stared in amazement as her father flew at the Raikage in a passionate rage. Just before he could strike she felt her mother's presence from behind her. "Close your eyes!" the older woman whispered urgently. Confused, she shut her emerald orbs tight. Her mother clamped her hands over her daughter's ears.

After a few moments of muffled noises she felt her ears being released. "It's okay now." She looked up gratefully into eyes identical to her own.

"Okasan!"

Sakura absentmindedly hugged her daughter while keeping her eyes on her husband. "HOLY FREAKING CRAP!" she yelled "YOU KILLED THE RAIKAGE!"

Sasuke smirked at his wife. "So?"

"WE'RE CRIMINALS!"

"So?"

"MY CHILDREN ARE TOO YOUNG TO BE CRIMINALS!" she wailed into her daughter's ear.

"Okasan?" Keiko pulled away from her screaming mother "You're hurting my ears."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Sakura's attention immediately changed to her injured son. Her mothering instincts taking over, she rushed to his side and inspected him for any major injuries. Satisfied upon finding none, she activated her healing jutsu on the small boy as he watched her gratefully. "We missed you." He whispered softly.

Sakura smiled gently "I missed you too." She turned to the rest of her family "I missed all of you."

They all smiled at each other (Sasuke just smirked), oblivious to the carnage all around them. Sasuke leaned against a broken church bench as he watched his wife operate. He had missed her so much. It took all of his strength not to pull her away from his son and hold her in his arms. Instead he satisfied himself in watching her every move. She seemed to sense his gaze as she turned around and grinned.

Their little moment was broken up by the arrival of Shinji. He was bleeding in several areas and looked a little worse for wear but otherwise he appeared alright. "How's the family."

Keiko grinned up at her new friend. "We're fine."

"Then I guess my job is done." He said, nodding at Sasuke.

"Wait!" Sakura removed her hands from her son "Where is Kyo?"

Shinji shrugged, a gesture which looked strange on the usual calm and mature man. "He left. He said to tell you that he wished you all the happiness that life could bring."

The pink-haired woman lowered her head sadly. Even though they had only known each other for a month or two, they had become close friends. She hated goodbye's more than anything else especially since she hadn't even said hers. She owed her friend much. "I see. Did he say where he was going?"

"Back to the Mist to pay for his crimes. He said they weren't major so he should only have a little jail time."

Sakura smiled sadly "Good for him…I think."

Shinji bowed before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke watched the little interaction with mild interest. Folding his arms defiantly, he faced his sorrowful wife. "Who the hell is Kyo? Another one of your boyfriends?"

"Boyfriends?" she blinked. Understanding slowly dawned "Wait just a minute, Uchiha Sasuke!" she stomped up to him furiously "Was I really gone that long?"

"What?"

"YOU brought a date! I saw you two getting cozy together in the pews!"

Sasuke glared down at the angry little spitfire in front of him. "Yeah, I brought a date to your wedding. If I recall correctly YOU'RE ALREADY MARRIED!"

Hisoka and Keiko stared at their parents in shared shock. They had never heard their father let out so many emotions, at least not like that. Even Sakura seemed surprised. She took a step back with her jaw dropped. "Don't you dare raise your voice at me Sasuke! You cheated on me!"

"That was a mission! I was supposed to escort her here and she suddenly decides to go to the wedding." Sasuke explained through tightly gritted teeth. "So, care to explain why I come here and find you at the altar with some other guy?"

"He used a mind-wiping jutsu on me!"

The Uchiha scoffed "Yeah, tell me anything."

"He DID! Ask the other medics! He used one on them too I think!"

"How very convenient. A mind wiping jutsu." Sasuke laughed.

"It's the truth you jerk!" Sakura couldn't believe her husband. Why was he being so unreasonable? "Keiko, Hisoka, who's right?"

"You are of course!" Keiko chirped up smilingly.

Hisoka glowered "Yeah, choose Okasan's side. Otousan is right obviously." He spoke as though he were speaking to a group of children instead of two adults and his twin. Folding his arms he stared at them defiantly as they stared at him in shock. "Okasan is probably telling the truth about the jutsu, but if you look at it reasonably Otousan was with that girl because it was a mission. Nowhere in the mission scroll did it say that Okasan had to marry that guy. Even though she might be telling the truth, logic beats all."

Sakura gaped. Keiko got ready to pounce on him. Sasuke gave his son a high five. "Spoken like a true Uchiha." He said proudly.

"Sasuke," Sakura bit her lip nervously "You do believe me though, don't you? Do you honestly believe that I'd choose old creepy white-haired guy over you?"

The Uchiha glanced at his children as he thought about it. She did have a point; he was way better looking than the Raikage even though the older man had a more exotic look. His eyes rested on Sakura's slightly swollen belly. He sighed, "I believe you."

She suddenly smiled, making him blush faintly. He seriously hated the affect that she had on him. "Arigato Sasuke-kun." She said softly.

He turned away "Whatever. Let's go."

"Not yet."

"Huh?" they turned to stare at Sakura who grinned mischievously.

"There's still one more thing I have to do." She winked.

Sasuke stared at her disbelievingly "And that is…?"

She giggled as she threw her arms around his neck, surprising both him and the children. "I missed you." She whispered softly before kissing him on the cheek.

This time his blush was more visible, but he hid it behind his bangs as he turned away. "Hn."

Sakura stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to crack. He finally sighed and turned back to her. "Sakura?"

"Hm?"

He smirked "You've gotten bigger."

Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief. Oh no he didn't! "BAKA!" she smacked his head with enough force to startle the children "How come every time one of us gets captured by a creep who wants us you say that!"

Keiko and Hisoka blinked "Wait, you lost us…"

Sasuke ignored the throbbing pain to smirk again. "I missed you too." He said sarcastically.

She grinned impishly as she hugged him again "I know you did." Sasuke smirked and leaned down to kiss her.

The twins covered their eyes and screamed "EEWWWW!! OLD PEOPLE KISSING!"

The two adult Uchiha rolled their eyes before really grossing their kids out.

Getting out of the cloud village was more difficult than they had imagined. First they had to sneak past the guards, grab Sakura's things, sneak past more guards, gather the medics and disperse them, sneak past the guards again, TP the Raikage's mansion (Sakura's idea, Sasuke wanted to burn it down), sneak past more guards, and finally get out of the village after leaving a formal apology and message to the village explaining the situation and hoping that they didn't' cause a war. All in all it was a very busy day for the Uchiha family.

Sakura grinned triumphantly as they sped through the trees towards Konoha…towards home.

Nothing beat a hard day's work like a good bowl of ramen. Nothing beat Naruto's head like Hinata when her husband was shirking his duties.

"OW! HINA-CHAN!" the Hokage shrieked as his wife hit him over the head with an empty ramen bowl. Ever since she got pregnant she started acting funny. He couldn't figure out why, but she was suddenly moody. One minute she's beating him up and the next minute she's crying like a baby. On some days she would suggest weird things like going roller skating, or knitting together. Neither of those excursions turned out well.

"YOU SAID YOU'D HELP ME CLEAN TODAY!" She screamed through her sobs. Several people walked by, shaking their heads knowingly.

"Young love." An old lady sighed wistfully.

The ramen guy glanced down at little Nina who ate her ramen cheerfully. "Are they always like that?" he asked.

"HINA-CHAN! You're hurting me." The Hokage whimpered pitifully as he crawled beneath the chairs.

"GOOD!"

A woman walked by and seeing the Hokage's distress decided to help him out. She knelt down where he crawled by "This way!" she whispered.

Unfortunately, Hinata's hearing was exceptional. Her Byakugan eyes zoomed in on the lady. "What…" she seethed "Are you doing with my husband?"

"I-I" the woman stuttered nervously. She glanced at Naruto for help.

"AH HELL NO!" Hinata yelled "WERE YOU JUST CHECKING MY HUSBAND OUT?" 

"WHAT?" Naruto and the lady screamed.

Hinata grabbed a large cleaver which was provided by a blinking Nina. "You better back away right now!" she said with a menacing gleam in her eye.

Naruto inwardly freaked out. This was what he got for trying to raise little Naruto's. He began praying.

The lady didn't need to think twice. She quickly ran off leaving a maniacally laughing Hinata. "THAT'S RIGHT! RUN HO! RUN!"

"Hinata-chan?"

The ex-Hyuuga heiress instantly calmed down as she saw her friend approaching. She dropped the cleaver and smiled warmly, instantly reverting to her old self. "Sakura-chan! Y-you're back!" she ran to embrace her long-time friend.

Naruto stared at his wife in shock. He was still scared of her. She turned to him making him with a broad smile. He covered his head with his arms "Make it go away!" he whimpered.

"Naru-kun?" he glanced up to see her only inches away from him.

"AAAAHHHH!!" He jumped back and hit his head on a stool. Hinata became the very picture of concern. She knelt down beside him.

"Here, let me see." She ran her fingers through his golden hair as she searched for any injury. "I don't see anything." She giggled girlishly and kissed the top of his head.

Naruto blinked. "You're not mad at me?" he asked defensively.

"Of course not!" she hugged him "How c-could I be mad at my little Naru-kun! You are so cute!"

He locked eyes with the Uchiha who shrugged. Naruto glared "You're next." He said menacingly.

Sasuke smirked. He was more than capable of handling Sakura's hormone-driven fits of rage. All he had to do was head for the hills and keep running. Duh.

A small blur rushed past the adults and towards where the twins stood quiet. "Kei-chan! Hisoka-kun!" Nina squealed as she greeted her friends. She grinned at Keiko as she hugged Hisoka. The young Uchiha struggled to keep his blush down.

"Hey. Can you get off me?" he asked gruffly.

Nina giggled and stuck her tongue out playfully. "Nope!" she turned to wink at the female twin. She loved the Uchiha's more than anyone else.

"Look!" Keiko cried suddenly as she pointed down the street. Everyone turned to see a familiar family heading their way.

Sakura's eyes filled with tears. "Yasuo!" She pushed past everyone else to get to her child who bounced merrily in her best friend's arms. As soon as she reached them she pulled him close to her. "Yasuo!"

"Awww…" Ino and Hinata cooed.

She ignored them as she held her son above her head. He laughed and waved his arms "'kasan!"

Sakura's jaw dropped. She turned to her friends in shock. He couldn't have…did he? She waited for a confirmation which came in the form of Ino's knowing smile. "HE SAID HIS FIRST WORD!"

"Actually…" Shikamaru interrupted, hating every moment of this "He said it a few days ago. It seems like he missed you."

The pink haired woman's jaw dropped again. "You're saying…I missed my baby's first word?"

"Yup."

She couldn't believe it. Now she would never have that magic moment where you hear your child say your name for the first time. Keiko's first word was 'pocky' and Hisoka's first word was all Naruto's fault. As if it were his fault now, she turned and glared at him. He noticed her glare and quickly hid behind his strangely moody wife.

Stupid Naruto. She shook her head. He had ruined her first born's first word.

**Flashback**

"-and the doctor says they'll be saying their first words anytime!" Sakura chattered excitedly to a very much bored Sasuke.

"**Aa?" he had barely paid attention to what she had to say. Raising kids wasn't his problem, it was bad enough that he had to provide for the little termites. No, he didn't mean that. He loved them but they went through food like a garbage disposal.**

**Sakura leaned back against the new couch. She had recently convinced her unenthusiastic husband to purchase a new couch. Their old one was getting a little threadbare and had a funny stain from when Naruto spilled ramen on it. **

"**I think Naruto and Hinata should be back with the twins any minute." She said, even though they both already knew that. She had spoken more to fill the silence than anything else.**

"**Hn."**

**She glared but held her tongue. Right now she was too tired to beat him up.**

**As if on que, the front door slammed open. "Honey! I'm home!" Naruto yelled gleefully, his very presence like a ray of sunshine.**

**Sakura smiled against her will as the Uzumaki family came in, holding her children and their own. Hinata held Hisoka in her arms with Nina on her back like a little papoose. Naruto had Keiko riding on his shoulders. The small girl smiled happily.**

"**Did you guys have fun?" Sakura asked as she relieved Hinata of her small bundle.**

"**Yes…w-we did." The ex-Hyuuga smiled softly. She cradled Hisoka "Tell Okasan how much f-fun you had today."**

**Sakura grinned. She passed her son to her husband before helping Hinata unstrap Nina. Naruto plopped down on the couch beside Sasuke "Hey teme, what did you and Sakura do today? I bet you did something bad."**

**Sasuke stared at his best friend in disbelief "What are you talking about dobe?"**

"**Don't call me a dobe!"**

"**I just did." Sasuke couldn't believe that they still had these childish arguments. It was really stupid when he thought about it. **

"**Teme!"**

"**Shut up." Sasuke glanced down at his son whose dark eyes mirrored his own. The boy stared up at him in childish fascination.**

"**Ttbbt."**

**Sakura stopped talking with Hinata "Aww… he's trying to speak!"**

"**Hey Teme, your kid's trying to say something. I bet he's saying how cool he thinks I am!"**

"**Stop talking for just one moment."**

"**TEME!" Naruto yelled in rage.**

"**t-teme!"**

**The whole room instantly turned silent. All eyes turned on the small child as he giggled "Teme!"**

**Sasuke's eyes turned red. "You have two seconds to run." He said through gritted teeth.**

"**Who, teme, you can't be serious!" Naruto held up his hands in defense "I didn't do anything!"**

"**Yes you did." Sakura growled "You ruined my baby's first word! Sasuke, get him."**

**Hinata shut her eyes as her husband was beat up, again.**

**end flashback**

A week later Hisoka had introduced his new word to the rest of Konoha by calling Kiba a teme, to which Naruto responded with "Now that's one smart baby."

Still, whether his first word was ruined or not, Sakura was glad to have her baby back. In fact, she was glad to have her family back. Looking at the children and adults surrounding her, Sakura realized that this was where she belonged. Even if she couldn't' become a shinobi again she was pretty sure that she'd be happy being with her family.

Family. That was one thing that Daisuke hadn't planned on. She loved her family more than any jutsu could make her love him.

She leaned against Sasuke as he wrapped an arm around her waist carelessly. It was good to be home.

That night as Sakura tucked the children in, she was surprised by Sasuke joining her. She kissed Keiko's forehead softly,all while her husband watched her carefully. She turned to him with a confused expression on her face. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head "No."

Raising an eyebrow, she turned to kiss Hisoka softly. "I love you."

"I love you too Okasan." The twins said in perfect unison.

She smiled down at them a moment longer than she usually did. She had missed them so much during that period of time. Once they got home she discovered that they had been enrolled in the ninja academy and moved up a grade within a week. Her children were powerful like their father. She knew that they would still surprise her yet.

Sasuke noticed his wife's smile. She was strangely overaffectionate. He blamed it all on her being deprived of her family for a month or so. It was weird how before he could tell the exact number of days that she was gone. Now that she was here it all seemed irrelevant.

Sakura yawned loudly as she turned off the lights, and softly headed towards her bedroom with her husband following her with practiced silence.

"Sasuke?"

He glanced her way as she began brushing her hair like she always did. "Yes?"

"I love you."

He raised an eyebrow. Her warmth was something he was slowly getting used to, even though sudden bursts of affection left him speechless. "Hm?"

She turned around and took a deep breath, as though this were something entirely new to her. Sakura's emerald eyes shone brightly in determination. "I said I love you."

Sasuke continued to stare at his moody wife. Maybe this was one of her hormone changes? He resorted to smirking softly "I know."

"Do you love me?" she asked timidly.

He blinked in surprise. This was something new. She already knew that he cared for her, so why was she suddenly demanding affection like this? He was completely devoted to her and she knew that. Ah, it was strange as well as confusing. He had already lost his train of thought. What was he saying again? Oh yeah, he already loved her… "O-of course I do." He stuttered in his confused state. "Why?"

"Oh…" she blushed bright pink as she fiddled with the hem of her nightshirt "It's just that…Diasuke did all that because he said he loved me."

"Daisuke? You mean the Raikage?"

She nodded slowly, feeling more uncomfortable every moment. "And I was just wondering if…well you loved me. It's a silly thought, I'm sorry I bothered you."

Sakura was surprised when Sasuke cupped her chin, forcing her to look directly at him. "Sakura, I love you more than that bastard the Raikage ever could."

"how can I be sure? He nearly gave up everything…" she whispered, feeling ashamed of herself.

Sasuke sighed. "Because," he said slowly "if he loved you he'd do whatever it takes to make you happy."

She closed her eyes as she thought about if for a moment. No matter how much Daisuke told her he loved her, she had never felt happy with him. He did try though. He gave her whatever she wanted. "He tried though." She didn't even know why they were having this conversation. It was more for helping her sort through what happened in the past two months.

"Did he buy you strawberry pocky whenever you cry?"

She shook her head slowly.

"Does he take you stargazing whenever you feel thoughtful?"

"No."

"Does he take you to the petting zoo with your children when you feel that you need more family time?"

"No."

Sasuke smirked, feeling more confident as he got through to her. "Does he kiss you when you're feeling affectionate."

She blushed as she attempted a glare. "No. Arrogant jerk."

"Did he kiss you at all?" he asked suddenly, his facial expression bordering rage.

She grinned cheekily "What if he did?"

Sasuke thought over that. If he did… he would head to the Cloud and destroy his remains, his family, his house, and every memory of him. He would scar the Cloud. He would go to hell just to torture his soul. "I'd hurt him." He said with practiced control.

She giggled as she playfully through her comb at him. Plopping down on the bed, she wrapped herself up in her sheet. She inhaled slowly, feeling comforted by the familiar scent of her bed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he slipped in under the sheet. She was such a peculiar person. It was a wonder that he could tolerate her, let alone her children.

"Sasuke, I love you."

"Just shut up and go to sleep."

Sakura peered at him and grinned again "I love you." She said more persistenly.

"You're not going to let this go are you?" he asked tiredly.

She stretched over and hugged him tightly, absorbing every ounce of his warmth. He blushed at her boldness, which was always shocking her. He mentally wondered whether he should shove her off or just ignore her.

"mmm…" she snuggled in closer. Sighing heavily he closed his eyes and leaned his head against her. He could ignore her for a couple more hours…


	13. Chapter 13

Hello darlings

Hello darlings! Did you miss me? To be honest, I do have a good excuse this time but I don't think I really owe an explanation. This life is my own, no matter how terribly messed up it is. There's been a lot of stuff going on here and it's just been difficult. During that time I lost my muse. I'm not even sure if I want to write any more. Anywayzers I hope you guys like this chapter. Pay no attention to the depressed authoress.

**Disclaimer: If you ask me if I own Naruto ONE MORE TIME I'll set Sasuke-kun on you!!**

**Oh yeah, someone asked how Yasuo has brown hair and brown eyes if his parents don't have either color. Well, the same reason I have really light skin while the rest of my family is darker. Grandparents. Sasuke's father had brown hair and brown eyes. I hope that answered your question. Much love.**

**Bonus Chapter one: Dirty Diapers**

"I want a cookie."

Sasuke groaned and rubbed his forehead. This was the fifth time today! How many times did he have to say it 'no cookies before dinner!'. "No."

"I want a cookie."

"I said no! No cookies before dinner! You of all people should know that!"

"But I'm hungry."

"Dammit Sakura! No cookies!" his Sharingan activated, revealing three swirling tomoes.

The pink-haired woman stuck out her lower lip in a perfect imitation of a child's pout. She glared heatedly at her grumpy puss of a husband. "You're mean."

He sighed. He loved her, but she was so irritating sometimes! Especially since her major mood swings started kicking in. He glanced down at her swollen belly as she stood up to glare down at him. "Sakura…"

"Don't you 'Sakura' me, you jerk!" she screamed with the force of a buffalo. "You're just a big meanie! I hate you! I want a cookie and I want one NOW!"

Talk about major mood swings. She was worse than all three children combined, he mused. Sasuke gave a soft sigh which was not unheard by his wife. She chose to ignore it as she glowered at him. She stamped her foot twice before marching out the room.

His muscles relaxed as soon as he sensed her chakra presence out of the kitchen. Ever since her mood swings took control, she'd been too temperamental to handle dinner, hence his cooking. He rose up from his seat to finish the rice. He wasn't a gourmet cook or anything, but he could make a mean rice and vegetable stir fry.

Sakura smiled charmingly at her friend and old teammate The Hokage as he searched through his kitchen cabinet, mumbling the whole time. "Let' see… miso ramen… chicken ramen… beef ramen… Ooh! There's where I placed the new spicy fish ramen!"

The pink-haired pregnant pistol winced. Some things were too strange to ask about.

"Barbeque ramen… medicine…"

She folded her arms impatiently. The things she did for cookies…

"Ah hah!" Naruto excitedly exclaimed, waving a box wildly "Here it is! Jumbo sized chewy chocolate chip cookies!"

Sakura snatched it out of her friend's hand and greedily opened it only to find… "It's empty." She said, her voice void of emotions as she felt herself die inwardly.

"Oops! Nina must've gotten to them! She really loves her cookies. What can I say?" he chuckled nervously while praying that she wouldn't be too mad. After experiencing Hinata's first pregnancy, he was officially terrified of pregnant women.

"She ate… the cookies?" Sakura sounded like a helpless child "But I like… cookies."

"Um," he scratched his head "Gomen?"

The kunoichi plopped down on the floor and burst into tears, looking for all the world like a little girl who just lost her favorite doll. Naruto blinked. Did he miss something in 'Dealing with Pregnant Women for Dummies?' This was definitely…different.

He heard his salvation come in with the gentle sliding of the door. "Naruto-kun? Are you home?"

"YES! HINATA! HINATA! IN THE KITCHEN! QUICK!"

In a few seconds he came face to face with his frantic wife. She held their recently born son, Haruki, against her body. She smiled gently at the sight of her long-time friend but that smile quickly disappeared as she saw her current state. "Mood swings?" she asked gently.

Naruto nodded, looking frazzled "Mood swings."

"I see…" she stared down thoughtfully at her wailing friend. "Hmm…" she bounced young Haruki lightly, even though he was already deep into his sleep. The ex-heiress gently passed the sleeping boy to her disturbed looking husband.

She knelt down gently beside her friend "S-Sakura-chan? What's wrong?"

Sakura gazed up at Hinata mournfully "My cookies…" she sniffled, holding up the box "Nina ate them!"

"I'm so sorry… here I'll bake you some new ones."

The Uchiha's face instantly brightened, her tears disappeared as if by magic. She gazed up eagerly at her friend, clinging on to this small fragment of hope. "Do you mean it?"

"Yes." Hinata gave her best motherly smile. It seemed to do the trick. In an instant Sakura was back to her usual smiling self. She giggled at her friend's eagerness.

There was a knock at the front door which Naruto raced to answer. In a few moments he came back with Uchiha Sasuke only a few steps behind him. The Uchiha looked a little worn as he made eye contact with his wife. "The cookies?" he asked wearily.

"The cookies." Naruto and Hinata replied in unison.

He ran a hand through his bangs. "Fine." He hissed, "Eat your stupid cookies. It'll be your fault if you get sick."

Sakura's eyes sparkled as she gazed up lovingly at her husband. The words he just said were music to her ears. She leapt across the kitchen and enveloped him in a giant hug "YAY!"

The Sharingan user sighed. He couldn't wait until the baby was born.

"AAAAHHHHHH!!"

"PUSH!"

Okay, he lied. Sasuke grit his teeth as his wife gave another cry. He was currently inside the hospital waiting room with his family and a few collected friends. Yasuo pulled mercilessly on his hair as he sat in his father's lap.

"Is Okasan dying?" he asked. After he learned his first words you couldn't stop him from talking. He picked up words faster than any other child in the village. Ordinarily a parent would take pride in such a situation, but to Sasuke it was just a big annoyance. Especially since the boy found the need to comment on everyone and everything. He even had the nerve to criticize one of Ino's outfits. The boy had guts, he'd admit, but along with it he had a mouth to match. Sasuke always feared the day when one of his children would pick up their mother's talkativeness.

"No Yasuo," Sasuke said gently "She's not dying. It's just something that happens when a woman has a baby. This time should be quicker though."

"Why?"

"Because I said so." That was the most effective way to shut the child up.

Yasuo nodded, obviously satisfied with his Father's answer. His older sister, Keiko frowned impatiently at the elderly nurse who sat at her desk watching the family. The girl tapped her foot and glanced at her twin who looked as if he were meditating. "Otousan? How long is this going to take? She didn't take that long shooting out Yasuo."

"Keiko, your mother did not 'shoot Yasuo out', and it may take a while." Sasuke said even though he shared similar sentiments. Seriously, how did Sakura manage to put up with them every day? He could only cling to the hope that they would be powerful and brilliant by the time they reached age twelve.

"Yeah, stop being a baby." Apparently, Hisoka was no longer meditating. His onyx eyes narrowed scornfully at his twin. "Just be quiet and wait it out, both of you. Okasan will be done soon and then we can all go home."

Sasuke smirked in pride. At least there was one level headed Uchiha here, beside himself of course. If he were anyone else, he would've kissed his son by then. Not 'kissed, kissed…' but like a fatherly… oh forget it.

"SASUKE I HATE YOU!!"

The older Uchiha shrunk at the sound of his wife's piercing scream. He glanced at his children who looked at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Nada."

"Can I have a cookie?"

Sasuke slapped his forehead. How did Sakura put up with this? He glanced hopefully at the uncaring receptionist who continued to file her fingernails. Well who cared about her? She had gorilla hands anyway… he scoffed. Sakura had much nicer hands anyway. She never took care of hers yet they always ended up soft and looking well manicured.

"You'd think she'd be done by now." Hisoka said to no one in particular as his mother gave another gut-wrenching cry.

His comment was accompanied by several gruesome noises and then a moment of silence. The whole Uchiha family sat up as they awaited the verdict. A few moments later a breathless nurse burst into the waiting room. "Congratulations Sasuke-san!" she cried excitedly "Your wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy!"

He didn't need to hear that twice. In less than a second he had crossed the room, knocked over the nurse, and burst into the birthing room to be greeted by his beaming wife.

Sakura giggled lightly at the startled expression on her husband's face as he caught sight of their son. The surprise was evident. She couldn't blame him; the son was a shock to her too. Well, at least he didn't have pink hair like her husband feared. If he did, she knew that Sasuke would go insane and probably shave him bald.

"R-r-…" Sasuke struggled to speak "Red?"

Sakura smiled and nodded her head eagerly. "Yes. Your son is a red head." She lifted said child up and pressed a gentle kiss on his forehead which earned an outraged squall. "Oops… I don't think I was supposed to do that."

Ever since he married that woman his life had been full of surprises. None fully matched this one though. Never in the history of the Uchiha clan had their been a child with such red hair. He remembered one distant cousin whose brown hair was tinged red but never anything like this. The child met his startled gaze and continued crying. The Uchiha could only stare in surprise.

"Well?" Sakura cleared her throat impatiently at her husband's eccentric behavior. Sure red was a strange color, but it was better than pink right? She could imagine his surprise if their son had been a pinkette. He probably would've gone insane and shaved him bald "Don't you want to hold your son?"

Sasuke robotically extended his hands in a numbed silence, his eyes never leaving his son's head. After a few moments he managed to speak "What do you want to name him?"

His wife gaped "Wait… you mean you're going to let ME name him?"

He nodded.

"Without a fight?"

He nodded once more, feeling slightly irritated.

She smiled gently up at him as he cradled the newborn infant to him. They made such a sweet scene. She wished that she had a camera. "Hmm… that's a toughie." She tapped her chin in thought. Her face instantly brightened "I know! Akane! Uchiha Akane! What do you think?"

Sasuke considered the name. The more he thought of it the more it grew on him. He gave a softened smirk down at his anxious wife. "Akane it is."

She beamed at him. Their small moment was cut short as the rest of their family, and several friends burst into the room. Sakura giggled as they all froze and stared at the boy in shock. This was going to take some time getting used to.

It was that time of the month again. The worst time for any husband. Shopping day. Sasuke slammed his forehead on his desk. Why now of all times? Their son had only been born a month earlier and Sakura was already running out of the house with her friends. 'I need new clothes!' was her lame excuse. Sasuke snorted. Who needed new clothes? All you have to do is re-wash the ones you have already. Women were so ridiculous.

"Otousan? Can I throw water balloons in the house?"

When Sakura went out with her friends that instantly meant that the husbands were on babysitting duty. The Hyuuga and the Hokage had taken their children out, while Sasuke opted to stay home and finish up on a mission report. Bad idea. The children were driving him insane. Sure he was grateful to the little cretins for helping him and Sakura earlier with the Raikage, but that was over now. They were back to being little brats.

His jaw tightened. Every time he thought about that bastard touching his wife he'd grow angry. He was surprised to find out that the Cloud council had similar thoughts. They had said that his loss had not been a great one and that the man had been abusing his power for too long. The Uchiha family was lucky that they didn't start a war. Killing one's Kage was not exactly a crime you could get away with.

"Otousan! Hisoka threw a water balloon at me! Spank him!" Keiko cried indignantly as she stomped up to her father's desk. She created a comical figure since she was a one or two inches shorter than the desk.

Sasuke groaned inwardly. Why wouldn't they just leave him alone? He was never that troublesome when he was a child. "Keiko, your Otousan is busy, go play."

"But I'm wet!" she stamped her foot, awaiting justice.

"Go out and dry then."

"I can't wait till Okasan gets back!" she stormed out the room, leaving Sasuke to sigh in relief. At least that storm was avoided.

A few minutes later the same angry child came in, this time with a disgusted look on her face. "Otousan."

"What is it now?" he slammed the scroll down. At this rate he'd get nothing done.

She pinched her nose "Akane made a giant stinky in his diaper."

Sasuke bit his lip, a motion that felt foreign to him. Usually Sakura was around to handle these mysterious 'stinkies'. "What do you want me to do about it?" he asked exasperatedly.

"Clean it up." Keiko stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Honestly, adults were so weird.

"I don't do diapers." He deadpanned.

"Well you have to, otherwise Akane could get sick or really really stinky, and then Okasan would get mad."

"I mean, I don't know how."

Keiko smiled brightly, looking very much like her mother. "That's okay! I've seen Okasan do it hundreds of times! I've also seen it done on tv! It'll be no problem!"

"So you'll handle it?" he asked hopefully.

She shook her head while holding her grin in tact "Nope. I'll just tell you how. I'm not tall enough to reach the changing table." She grinned cheekily, feeling grateful for her lack of height.

Sasuke glared as he propped his arms up on the desk. "Are you sure you know the instructions?"

"Yup!"

"And we won't make a mess?"

"Yup!"

"Will it be… stinky?"

Keiko fought a grin. She never thought she'd hear that word come out of her father's mouth. "Probably, but if we do it right it'll be real fast! No problem!"

Sasuke sighed tiredly and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright, I'm trusting you."

Big mistake.

From the early Academy days, a ninja is trained to do several odd tasks. Some tasks take longer to complete but in the end the ninja becomes more well-rounded and with the ability to accomplish an excess number of missions, no matter how strange the requirements. Unfortunately, changing diapers was never one of those tasks.

"Are you sure this is how it's done?" Sasuke asked as he fought the urge to pinch his nose at the foul odor emitting from his son. He had heard rumors on how stinky diapers were and had laughed it off each time. Now he could honestly say that Sakura wasn't kidding. "And why does it smell so much?"

Keiko attempted a shrug as she buried her sensitive nose underneath her shirt collar.

Since his daughter was no help, he decided to take things into his own hands. Being as careful as possible, he lay his son down on the changing table and rolled him on his back. His dark eyes narrowed as he patiently awaited his daughter's orders. He hoped that no one would ever find out that he came to his daughter for help. He was supposed to be teaching her! Not the other way around! It was all Sakura's fault for going shopping with her friends. Why couldn't she just take the little stinker with her? He smirked, little stinker. That was a good one.

"Okay!" Keiko clapped her hands cheerfully "Now you pull his pants down and then unbuckle the diaper!"

"Fine." Taking orders from five year olds… who ever heard of such a thing? It was downright embarrassing. He was an Uchiha for kami's sake! Things like these aren't supposed to happen to Uchiha's!

He winced as the odor came even stronger. "How does Sakura handle this?" he asked no one in particular.

"She usually takes a deep breath or ignores it."

"That was a rhetorical question."

"Oh."

He unsnapped the sticky diaper straps carefully. Still holding his breath, Sasuke turned to Keiko expectantly.

"Okay! Now you lay the top strap down so that it unfolds."

He quickly complied. Raising an eyebrow, the elder Uchiha glanced down at his son who gave an indignant cry before bursting into tears. "Now what?"

"Ummm…" Keiko shuffled her feet awkwardly.

"Please tell me that you know what you're doing."

"I do!" came her defensive cry "It's just that… well usually by this point I get sick and leave the room. I don't know how Okasan does it."

'_Me neither'_. Sasuke almost screamed in frustration. This situation couldn't get any worse if Orochimaru came back from the grave and burst through the door. He knew that he needed to be patient with the children, but it was hard. Children were never his strong point. Stealth, assassination, strategies, ninjutsu, those were his expertise. Forcing an anbu captain to change a diaper was downright criminal. From now on, he was going to hire a babysitter.

"Fine…" he sighed in defeat. He would just have to figure things out from here. It couldn't be too hard right?

Sasuke jumped slightly as he felt something warm and wet hit his chest. It took a few moments for him to register what was going on.

Unfortunately Keiko was a little quicker at catching on. She clutched her sides as she burst out laughing "AKANE PEED ON YOU!" she cackled.

"Yes I know." He snapped, sounding harsher than he meant to. His eyes instantly turned red as he glared down at the infant. The stupid thing had the nerve to start giggling. He clenched his fists as he tried to stem his anger. Sakura would kill him if anything happened to Akane.

"That was too funny!" Keiko fell on the floor, laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world.

Sasuke was grateful that none of his friends witnessed this embarrassing scene. He took a deep breath and relaxed, his eyes turning back to their natural color. "Enough of this…"

What next? He stared down curiously. Well it looked like the child needed wiping. "Do you know what your mother uses to um… wipe him?"

"Wipes!" Keiko cried, all laughter dissipating. "There's a box under here! See!" she produced a box from under the changing table and waved it cheerfully. Sasuke smirked down at her mercifully. Maybe he could forgive her this one time. Without her he'd probably still be at a loss.

There was no time to lose. The odor was getting stronger by the minute and Sasuke felt that they had already spent enough time on this incredibly stinky task. Holding his breath, he carefully used the wipes and disposed of them almost immediately.

Thinking for a moment, he realized that they needed to just get rid of the diaper before it stunk any more, if possible. Unsure of what to do, he balled it up and wrapped several wipes around it in order to contain the disgusting odor. He glanced at Keiko who nodded her head approvingly. Okay, maybe that wasn't the exact right thing to do, but it did get rid of some of the odor and that was more than enough for him.

Keiko stood on her tiptoes beside her father and peered down at her younger brother. Sasuke stared down with a similar expression of curiosity in his eyes. "Now what?" they asked in unison.

"Great…"

"I told you that I usually leave by now! Excuse me for not wanting to die of bad gas inhalation!"

Wondering where a five year old learned a word like inhalation, Sasuke shook his head. He bent down and pulled a fresh diaper out of the spare bag and unfolded the floppy object. He stared at it calculating for a moment, observing the different aspects of this mysterious diaper.

"That end's the front end." Keiko said bluntly.

"I knew that."

"Riiiiggghhhhttt…."

Sasuke bit back a scathing retort and instead focused on the task at hand. It wasn't that it was hard, no even a simpleton could figure this out; it was just that he, an Uchiha, was doing women's work! He could almost feel his ancestors rolling in their graves. The shame…

"Are you going to move or what? Akane looks unhappy." The small girl commented as she lightly stroked her younger brother's cheek. The small boy watched her with a curious look on his small face; his green eyes shining bright with unshed tears.

The Uchiha couldn't believe that Keiko grew up to be just like her mother. "I'm thinking." He said sharply as he lifted his son's legs and slid the diaper underneath him. Success!

"Yay!" Keiko clapped "I usually come in by this part so I know what to do now!"

Sasuke almost joined her in clapping. Finally, he could go and get some work done. "What do I do?"

She smiled as she held up a finger, looking for all the world like a teacher. "Okasan usually places some good smelling powder on him. She kinda poofs it on his behind. Then she wraps the diaper around him and pulls his pants up."

"Get the powder."

Sasuke felt a strong sense of appreciation for Sakura's work. She had changed a lot of diapers in the time that she was married to him. He wasn't even going to waste time calculating how many diapers she changed. If doing one was this complicated imagine…

"Uh oh."

He turned to his daughter "What?"

She blushed in embarrassment "It's just that…" her voice trailed off slightly "Well we're out of powder." She shoved a container of powder in his face "See?"

He inspected the container and found her words to be true. "Now what? Can't he just go without the powder?"

Keiko shook her head "Okasan usually uses powder. I'd hate if we did something wrong." 

"We don't have powder. What else can we do?" he asked tiredly, wishing that he were somewhere else.

"Don't worry!" Keiko cried with sudden enthusiasm "I have a plan!" With that, she turned and ran out the room leaving her father to stare at the doorway.

Children.

Are.

Troublesome.

"I'm back!" Keiko's cheerful voice announced.

Finally. He was about to say something but all words disappeared as he caught sight of what his daughter was waving.

"What are you holding?" he demanded, wondering what the heck she could possibly be thinking.

She beamed up at him "Cinnamon!"

"Why the hell would I put cinnamon on my baby son's backside?" he ground out through tightly gritted teeth. This day just got worse and worse.

"Becauuusseee… it's powder and it's sweet smelling! It can't be any more important than the baby powder!"

"Baby powder has 'healing qualities'…" he read the back aloud "What the-?"

Keiko grabbed the empty powder bottle out of his hand and threw it over her shoulder, knocking down a portrait in the process. "Who cares? Cinnamon does too! That's what an old lady say!"

"You shouldn't' trust old ladies… half of them are senile."

"What's senile? Just use it already!" she waited impatiently as he gave her a hard stare. She decided to use her trump card "You want to get done don't you?"

Sasuke shut his eyes momentarily. "Fine. If your mother gets mad…"

"I'll take the blame!" she said with a careless shrug.

Sasuke blinked. That child was too carefree for her own good. Didn't she know the full extent of her mother's wrath? Probably not… the little brat never had to deal with Sakura's violent mood swings as much as he had. Speaking of which, where was she? Shopping day couldn't have taken that long!

"Let's do this." He said as he began carefully powdering his son's backside with cinnamon.

Akane stared up at him in surprise before sneezing.

Keiko grinned, "I think his butt is brown enough. Just attach the sticky things properly and we are out of here!"

One thing that constantly improves for a shinobi is instincts. Sasuke, being a child prodigy, was always gifted with sharp instincts and fast reflexes. He could always trust his intuition to lead him the right way, except for with Orochimaru. Right now those very same instincts were screaming 'run away!' or something similar to that. Cinnamon… that couldn't be correct. Still he had applied it anyway, only because he trusted that his daughter had some 'feminine instincts' and would know what was best. Big mistake.

"There!" Said girl cheered as her younger brother was lifted off the changing table and into his father's strong arms. "All done! We did it!"

Sasuke sighed. It was over. Finally. He blinked as he sensed Sakura's presence at the front door. "Your mother's here."

"Really? Okasan! OKASAN! GUESS WHAT WE DID?"

Hisoka walked past the door and eyed his father's damp shirt, and the brown powder all over the changing table. "Made a mess?"

"Shut up 'soka! OKASAN!"

"Okay I'm coming!" Sakura laughed gently as she set her bags on the floor. She removed her jacket and quickly followed her eager daughter. "So what'd you do?"

Keiko gave a perfect replica of her mother's charming smile "Otousan and I changed Akane's diaper!"

"You did? I'm so proud!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. The girl didn't do much besides give half-guessed suggestions and take up space. Akane burped in his ear. He really couldn't wait for his next mission.

"Let's see how you did!" And suddenly she was there in the room, her presence seemingly lighting it up. Her hair was pulled into a stylish twist and clipped up, leaving her ends sticking in every direction. She wore a loose baby blue kimono-style top and relaxed black pants which hung casually down to her ankles. The overall effect was cute yet comfortable.

She smiled brightly upon seeing her husband holding their son. "Akane! Did you miss me?" she swooped the child into her arms and kissed his forehead. Akane almost instantly began laughing and cooing, making Sasuke's eye twitched. All the little bastard did for him was pee on his shirt! He glanced down at said clothing item miserably. That was one of his favorites too!

"You guys did a good job!" Sakura complimented with a playful wink directed at Sasuke "I think-" she paused and sniffed "Do I smell cinnamon?"

"No." "Yes!" Keiko and Sasuke said almost simultaneously.

Sakura stared at the two of them suspiciously "What do you… there I smelled it again! I do smell cinnamon… WHY IS THERE BROWN POWDER ALL OVER THE CHANGING TABLE? IS THAT CINNAMMON?"

"No."

"Yes!"

"Stop contradicting me." Sasuke snapped.

Sakura was moving around in a panicked frenzy, her eyes sweeping over the whole room. She took a deep breath, hating the question that was about to escape her lips. "Did you two…" her eye twitched "put cinnamon… on my baby?"

"No."

"Yes!"

"Dammit Keiko!"

Sasuke groaned in frustration. They had a lot of explaining to do now. However, judging from the look in Sakura's eyes, running seemed more appropriate. He glanced toward the only window in the room and immediately made use of the nearby escape.

Sasuke smirked as he heard Sakura's angry voice from behind him "UCHIHA SASUKE!! GET BACK HERE!"

No one could match the anbu captain's speed. This was one thing he was definitely grateful for. His smirk broadened as he sensed that she was not coming after him. Ah well he'd just deal with her temper when he got back home. By then she should calm down. Maybe he'd even bring some flowers to loosen her up a little.

Sakura was a pain, the children were a pain, but somehow in the midst of all the strange happenings they managed to bond in a way no other family could. In his own strange way, he loved them. He only hoped that that love would sustain after Sakura attempts to murder him. He paused and shrugged. Oh well, he was an Uchiha. He could handle it. He always did.

**End Bonus Chapter 1**

AARRGGGHHHH!! I KNOW! I took FOREVER and it STILL SUCKS! It's been a month and I think I might've missed you guys. I'm sorry. See top of page for more details on what happened. sighs I don't even remember the poll question and I'm too lazy to check. I'll post that answer and the other one in the next ch okay? Much love.

I HATE Naruto fillers! They SUCK! I've become so irate that now I don't even watch it, so instead I watch Fairly Oddparents or a Basketball game. The fillers are boring, cartoony, and would almost make me hate the show! END THE FILLERS!

Oh yeah, does anyone else like Fruits Basket? I adore it! I bought three volumes within the last week! I can't watch the show for some reason but I ADORE the Manga! IT is so cute! –squeals!- I love Kyo! And Yuki! And Shigure! And Aaya! And Hatori! And Momiji! And Hatsuharu! And Kisa! And Tohru, especially Tohru! –squeals-

Question: AU fics or normal? Which do you prefer?

Please review! Bye!

TO APOLOGIZE FOR MY ABSENCE I WILL BE BEGINNING THE WINNING FIC ON MY PROFILE'S POLL! PLEASE READ IT WHENEVER IT COMES OUT AND REVIEW!


	14. News, information, blah blah

**Hey guys, long time no see.**

**First of all I'd like to give my reviewers and any supporters a big fat THANK YOU for your kindness. You guys are the sweetest, awesomest (is that even a word?), most beautiful reviewers in the world and I wouldn't be half as confident as I am today without you. Thank you so very much.**

**This story ends right now, along with any others stories I may have. I'm considering continuing Cliché unless anyone objects. **

**IF ANYONE WANTS TO CONTINUE 'All My Life' OR EVEN 'Cliché' PLEASE PM ME! DO NOT ASK IN A REVIEW BECAUSE THAT'LL BE KIND OF TACKY. NO OFFENSE. WHY AM I SHOUTING? LAAAAA!!!**

**Ooh! Did anyone see Twilight? Didn't it suck? They could've funded it better and made it mind-blowing. Still, stupid old me is going next November for New Moon. They'd better improve it or else I'm going picketing. Who's with me? Robert Pattinson, Kellan Lutz, Taylor Lautner, and even Jackson Rathbone were H.O.T. **

**Anyway back to my point… I am writing ONE MORE FIC. Since I promised a few of my oneshot reviewers a SasuHina this final one is a SasuHina. I will be posting the first chapter today. It is a high school fic, I know how most of you guys like normal fics but I can't bring myself to do one. I really am tired of all anime excluding Full Metal Alchemist.**

**So thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For everything! I hope you will still read my new story. I know SasuHina isn't the most popular pairing, but surely you love me enough to read it right? –crickets chirp-**

**See you in Operation: Happily Ever After!!!!!!**

**Much love**

**The One and Only, Nikki**


End file.
